Winds of Fate
by Apelles
Summary: Syaoran is put to a test of the ultimate of sorts with two people he does not like, with the fate of a world nobody wants hanging in the balance, and with new emotions. Poor Syaoran.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters, but any new ones are from my own (screwed up) imagination. So please don't sue.

Author's note: Enjoy.

Rain poured hard on the windshield as Touya drove the car home. Night covered the sky in darkness and vision was becoming blurry. Stepping on the gas, the car responded in a series of coughs and spurs before it speed up. A red stop sign appeared out of nowhere and Touya jumped on the brake. He sighed out irritation. A dark figure walked slowly through the glow of the headlights. Touya wondered who could be out on a crazy night like this.

The creature stumbled into the full blaze of the light, covering its face with a hand. Touya, glancing at the clock, beeped the horn. "Damn, it is 11:23. Come on, out of the way." he shouted. He was already late, and cursed himself for volunteering to get milk.

Instead of moving, the figure swayed side to side slowly before falling in front of the car, face first. Touya ripped the door open and ran to help the person. The person had fallen into a mud filled puddle. Touya rolled him over and look at him.

The person was a young boy. Hardly older then 16. Messy brown hair clung to his forehead as Touya lifted his face to the light. His jaw dropped and he almost dropped the person when the light hit the boy's peaceful face.

"Li..." he gasped. The boy's eyes opened for a spilt second and he coughed before his body went limp. Touya looked through the rain to the stop sign. Behind it was a street sign.

Good, I am not far away from the house.., he thought and picked up Syaoran easily and put him in the car. He took one last look at Syaoran before he started up the car. "Welcome back, Gaki." he said gently, throwing his coat over Syaoran to keep him warm.

**Earlier that day**

"HOE! I'm late!" Sakura's voice rang throughout the Kinomoto household. Fujitaka press his hand to his ear as he talked in the phone, blocking out the bumps and thumps of Sakura running around.

"Yes, sorry Touya. What was that? You are? Oh, good, Sakura will be happy..." he said before Sakura slide onto the tiled floor in her socks. In two hops she grabbed her lunch and a piece of toast, crammed it into her mouth, and ran out the door. "Hey, Sakura! Your brother wants to talk to you!" Fujitaka yelled as she ran by.

Groaning loudly, she took the receiver, put it in the nook between her shoulder and chin and tied her shoes. "What, Touya? I'm late...HEY! I am not a monster!" she shouted. "You better watch yourself next time you're in town...what? Really! You're coming! Tonight! Perfect..." Sakura took one look at the clock and shrieked in the phone. "I'm late!"

She threw the phone to Fujitaka and bolted out the door, one free shoelace trailing behind her. Sakura raced to the school and bolted inside the classroom seconds before the bell.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," a voice called from behind Sakura. "What did you do, sleep late?"

Tomoyo walked over to Sakura's desk, Eriol behind her. Sakura grinned. "hai, but never mind that. Touya is coming back from the university!"

Tomoyo eyes widened. "When? For how long?" she asked.

"Tonight. He said he can stay here for the weekend." Sakura said. Seconds later, the bell rang, and kids rolled eyeballs, shuffling obediently to their seats. "Tell you later," whispered Sakura as Tomoyo moved away.

The teacher strolled into the classroom, seemingly unaware of the notes flying across the room. He was a old, strict man, with glasses that took up the majority of his face. The years of being in the presence of children was very visible from his bald head, to the small bag he carried with him constantly filled with medications.

"ATTENSION CLASS." he roared. " Today we will be learning about the worlds' governments..." and the monotone voice took over.

The students stilled back in their seats, eyes open, but pointed everywhere expect to where the teacher was pointing. A small, folded note landed on Sakura's desk. She looked around the room for its' sender.

"psst...Sakura-chan..." a voice carried to her ears. Sakura twisted her torso around and followed the voice to a boy. His finger pointed to himself and he mouthed the words, "I sent the note."

She nodded and turned her attention to the front of the room for a moment, waiting for the chance to unfold the mystery on her desk. The teacher turned his back to the map behind him, and Sakura's hand grabbed the note off the top of her desk, and opened it in her lap.The handwriting was messy and it took a few moments before Sakura understood the letter.

She stole one glance back at the boy. His name was Bohdan Kiyoshi. He was a boy who had moved from Kyoto just over one and a half years ago. He was a favorite among many of the girls, with his short black hair, big toothy smile, and soccer abilities. In the pit of her stomach, uncertainty grew. Sakura bit her lip in thought, then turned to the teacher. _'This is going to be a long day...'_

**Walking home from school**

"HE WHAT?!" Tomoyo yelled. "Give me that note!"

Tomoyo snatched the note from Sakura's finger tips. "Hey, Tomoyo, give that back-"

"Shush, shush." Tomoyo eyes scanned the paper before she grinned. "_Dear Sakura-chan,_

_I have been watching you for quite a while now. You are always really nice to me, and I would like to thank you for that. I was wondering if you could show me around the town. I would like to try out for the high school play. We could go to the park afterwards if you have nothing else to do. Like friends, if you want, or.  
Anyways, I will wait for your reply, Sakura-chan._

_Kiyoshi.."_

Tomoyo laughed. "He likes you, Sakura!"

"Really?" Sakura blushed. " I don't think-"

Tomoyo cut her off. " Sure, his handwrite is sloppy, and his letter is way too obvious, but he likes you! What are you going to do?" Her eyes stared at Sakura's beet red face.

" I don't know!" Sakura said loudly, her face burning up from embarrassment. " I'm not sure if I even like him..." her voice trailed off.

Truth to tell, Sakura was absolutely sure she did not like him. He was a very nice, and a kinda cute, in a gawky teenaged sense. Kiyoshi was a few inches above many of the boys in their class, thus had a stretched out sort of look. Sakura never once thought of him in any other way other then that they were friends. Now he had to go and put a new type of pressure on her.

Before Sakura could think more about what she was going to do, a strong wind came and blew the note down the sidewalk. Sakura ran after it.

A powerful aura tingled her as she went down to pick up the note. She gasped.

"Hey, Sakura, what is it?" Tomoyo asked. "Did you feel someone?"

For the past few years, Sakura could sense strong auras, mostly when people were having an emotion boiling in their veins. The thing that shocked Sakura about this small tingle was that it was very familiar to her. It warmed her. It touched her.

"Syaoran?" She let the name roll off her tongue, barely above a whisper. She could hardly ever feel him, try as she might. The distance was just too great, and the fact that they had not seen each other for a few years made it nearly impossible.

Yet here this familiar aura was, tingling warmly inside of her.

Tomoyo picked up the name. "What about Syaoran?"

Sakura shook her head, "huh? What did you say?"

"Syaoran. You said his name. Did you feel something from him?" Tomoyo questioned.

Sakura looked at Tomoyo, the sparkle in her eyes telling Sakura she was about to reach for her camera. " No, no...you must have heard wrong. I didn't say anything." She smiled sweetly and grabbed the note from the concrete. "Lets go on home and see if Touya is there."

Sakura felt a pang of guilt. She had never really told Tomoyo about her true feelings for Syaoran. Tomoyo knew she was able to 'feel' other people but a fact Sakura prayed no one would ever find out was that, deep down, she always felt another aura, mixed in with her own. It was very small and hardly noticeable, yet consistent. She would ask Kero tonight about it.

**At the Kinomoto house**

"Kaiijuu!"

"Touya!"

A small series of yells and name calling followed the opening greeting of the siblings. Tomoyo walked in the door as Touya stuck his tongue out at Sakura before returning to the kitchen. Sakura ran in after him.

"How's the university?" She asked as she grabbed an apple.

"Same old, same old. I got a job as a waiter in a coffee restaurant eight blocks away from the dorms." Touya replied. "What's going on with you, Kaiijuu?"

Sakura averted her eyes from Touya, ignoring the nickname. "Boring. Though the new high school is having play tryouts next week. Anyone can try out."

Tomoyo nodded toward the books she was carrying " We gotta go and study."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Hai. Later, Touya." They ran up the steps to Sakura's room and shut the door. 'Studying' the books soon turning into chatter and gossip as the first hour dragged by.

Touya walked up from the downstairs, balancing a small plate of food and his backpack. As he neared Sakura's room, the door was slightly ajar, letting out hushed voices of the young girls. Touya shuffled his feet quietly along, not wanting to hear their prattle.

"He likes you, Sakura!" Tomoyo's voice squeaked. Touya froze in his footsteps. Quick as a flash, he dived to the door, keeping himself away from the door, in a perfect position to overhear their words.

"hush, Tomoyo! Touya is downstairs!!" Sakura's voice hissed.

"Sorry," a second of silence passed before, " but Hiyoshi actually wants to meet with you."

"The note does not say that! It only says that he wants me to show him around..."

"Idiot. Who the heck wants to be shown around this place?"

"Plenty of people do!"

Touya listened intently, not realizing he was gripping his backpack so tightly that his hand that had white knuckles. _'Another Gaki-like person?_' he thought. _'Why are they after my sister?_'

"...what should I do?" Sakura's voice broke through Touya's ears.

" I think you should go with him. He might be nice." Tomoyo said.

Touya had heard enough of this and banged down the door. "Who is Hiyoshi?!" he roared. Sakura jumped off her bed and onto the floor while Tomoyo put a hand to her mouth to suppress her attack of giggles.

Touya's eyes darted from one to the other. "Well? Who is he?" he said, his voice still trying to come back to a normal level.

Sakura seemed to hesitate, then she quickly stood up and looked up at Touya, who towered over her. "What were you doing listening?" she asked, her voice matching his.

Touya blinked, taken back the girl staring up at him. "That's none of your business!" he stuttered. "Who is Hiyoshi?"

Sakura opened her mouth to yell at him to get out, but was cut off by Tomoyo, who responded between fits of giggles. "He is a boy in our class. He gave Sakura-chan a note and-"

"Tomoyo!" Sakura piped and glared at her friend, who realized how much she had revealed.

"I want to meet him." Touya declared. Sakura's eyes widened.

"No, Touya.It's nothing. Really." She felt herself becoming red.

Touya glared at her. "If he is anything like the last Gaki, I kill him." he stated and walked out of the room. Sakura threw a pillow at Tomoyo, who dodged.

"You didn't have to say all that." She said.

Tomoyo shrugged. "He was going to find out anyways. You know how he is."

Sakura sighed. "hai." she murmured.

**In Touya's room**

Touya slammed the door and threw his backpack on his bed. At least he meet the last Gaki, now this new boy wanted to date his sister. The nerve! Setting aside the new worries, Touya permitted himself a nap before he had to make dinner. An hour later he heard the front door open, and a new voice.

"Hiyoshi-san! What are you doing here?"

Touya jumped out of bed and went to his window, which overlooked the street in front of their house. There was a skinny boy on the sidewalk on a bike. He had short black hair, styled in the newest fashion. He had a large grin, one that showed all his white teeth, even from where Touya was.

"Hi, Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan." He waved them over. "I was just riding my bike around."

"Lair" Touya said under his breath.

"What are you two doing?" He asked. Tomoyo replied quickly while Sakura nodded. Touya saw Hiyoshi's eyes move from Tomoyo to Sakura, and started to look her up and down slowly...

Touya vaulted over his bed to the door and ran down the stairs, four at a time. _'The new Gaki is checking her out_!' he thought, a new hatred for the boy developing. He clutched the doorknob and opened the door swiftly. The three teenagers turned around at the sound, Hiyoshi's eyes grew wide. Touya slowed down his step, and walked right next to Sakura, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Who's this, Kaiijuu?" he asked, his face lighting up in a very fake smile. Inside, he was scowling.

"Hiyoshi-san, this is Touya, my brother." Sakura said, a blush of embarrassment coloring her cheeks from Touya's walking outside for no apparent reason other then to torment her.

Hiyoshi looked up at Touya, who towered over him. Sakura's brother seemed to be forcing the smile. Hiyoshi gulped. Suddenly, asking Sakura out seemed to be a bad idea. He quickly asked a question, hoping to end the conversation soon.

"You going out for the school play?" he said, his eyes darting from the very large Touya to Sakura.

She nodded happily. "I can show you where the new high school is. It is not to far from our high school."

Hiyoshi nodded, sweat drops appearing on his forehead. " Well, I-uh, I got to go!" he then race down the street, positive Touya was giving him death glares.

Touya smiled when he saw Hiyoshi's retreating form. His momentary pleasure in seeing this was disrupted when Sakura punched him in the arm.

"What was that about?" She said, her eyes glaring at him. "You scared him away!"

Touya looked down at her, and growled, "That Gaki," he pointed down the street, "...was checking you out! I won't allow it!"

Sakura blushed a second or two before she got control of herself. "Not all guys that talk to me are bad, Touya! You can't control me forever!" she snapped her head around and started walking back to the house. Touya walked right behind her.

"That Gaki makes the old Gaki seem likable..." he muttered quietly. Sakura looked back at him, then shook her head.

Tomoyo was tapping the whole conversation, keeping her laugher to herself. She waved goodbye to Sakura and started to walk by to her mansion. Her bodyguards met her two blocks away and escorted her the rest of the way home.

**10:45 pm, later that night**

Sakura threw her self down on her bed. She had still no idea about what to do about Hiyoshi. Touya did not help either. Throughout the whole dinner, he kept on making small comments about how the old Gaki seemed much better when compared to the new one, whom he nicknamed "Super Gaki."

Sakura had ignored him, knowing the little it would do to try and change his mind. At least Touya seemed to prefer Syaoran to Hiyoshi. Sakura wasn't sure if this improvement was good or bad, but it showed that there was hope that he could be capable of accepting one of Sakura's guy friends.

She rolled over and looked at the ceiling. Was Syoaran a guy friend? She asked herself. Was he more, was he less? She had not really seen or talked to him for the past few years, and now, for some odd reason, she could not get him out of her mind.

The aura she felt earlier tickled inside of her gently. "Kero-chan?" she called.

The plush toy imposture glided over, munching on something. "What it is?"

Sakura took a deep breath and told Kero of what happened today, with the strange aura. She also mentioned, very hesitatly, about the aura she felt inside of her. Kero listened, nodded in the right places, and commenting when necessary.

"What does it mean?" She asked when she was done.

Kero looked at her for a few moments. "I have no idea." he said at last.

Sakura fell off the bed. She expected a little more then, I have no idea. The way he had built up to that made her hold her breath in. "Arg! Can't you say a little more then that?!"

Kero shrugged. "Look, I don't know much about that..."

" 'that' what? What's 'that'?"

Kero sighed heavily. " The aura you are feeling inside of you and today may be the one and the same." Sakura looked at him with big eyes for him to continue. " I don't know, since this doesn't really have much to do with Sakura Cards, but it could be that you have found 'The One'."

"What's 'The One'?" Sakura said, her brow scrunched up.

" I don't know. 'The One' could be anyone. Maybe you have not even meet this person yet. Maybe their aura found you and-"

Sakura put her hand up in Kero's face. "Wait...The One is a person?!"

Kero glared at her to shut up. She grinned sheepishly. " As I was saying, the One could be anyone. It is a person." Sakura blushed unknowingly. " Clow did a bit of research on this, but it never really interested him." Kero looked up, lost in thought. " The way some magicians try and explain it is like, soul mates. When two people are fated for each other. For good, or bad. Now keep in mind that some people can have more then one soul mate. Their aura matches with many others, and they can be happy with a number of them. But, in some rare cases, there are two people who only match with one another. Their aura does not match with any other then that one person. It is the only way they can be truly happy. Thus, this two are 'The One's for each other."

Sakura bobbed her head up and down carefully at his every word. " The Ones aura are attracted to each other and share a mystic bond. They can never be really happy in a relationship until they find the One for them. So, they are doomed to continue wondering around, searching for one another."

Sakura felt her cheeks become very hot. "Are you saying that I am one of those rare cases?" she asked.

" Yes. It would explain the aura inside of you."

Sakura blushed even harder. "But I do I know if I found this One?"

" I have no idea. Ask Eriol-Kun. He probably knows." Kero stared at her. "Can you feel this person inside of you now?"

Sakura closed her eyes. She searched around inside of her. In a corner, the strange aura gave a wave of warm toward her own when she was close by it. The aura 'touched' her's gently, and gave another wave of warmth. Pleasure drifted around slowly, and Sakura smiled. "...yes. I can felt it." she said. And, unknown to her, tilted her head back slowly from the soft vibes the aura was giving her.

" How does it feel?" Kero asked, eyebrows raised.

"It feels..." She paused for a moment, feeling the aura retreat back to where ever it stayed. "...nice." She finished and blushed again. Kero shrugged and floated away. "It's a guy." Kero stopped and looked back at Sakura, who was looking at the floor, a smile on her lips. "I can tell. His aura...tickles..."she said, and looked at Kero, small tears in her eyes. "I can't wait to met him." she smiled happily.

Sakura got up and ran down the stairs. Kero smiled. "At least she is happy." he said and then promptly crashed himself on a pillow, snoring.

Downstairs, Sakura meet Touya in the kitchen. She quickly wiped the happy tears away and then looked around for some milk and a pastry.

"Milk is all gone. You drank the last of it at dinner, remember?" Touya said, not looking up from the paper he was reading.

Fujitaka walked in, wearing his robe and a pair of slippers. "Good night," he yawned and shuffled his feet to his bedroom.

" Touya, can you go get more milk?" Sakura asked, grabbing a bag of cookies and laying them on a plate. "Please?" With her big puppy eyes, Touya took one glance at her and then mumbled about getting the car keys. "Arigato, Touya!" she called as his form disappeared into the darkness of the night. Rain started to fall.

Twenty minutes later, Sakura sat by the kitchen table. 'Why is it taking so long?' she wondered. The trip to the store could not have lasted more then 5 minutes, even with the rain. She had not moved for the past ten minutes, looking at the door, as if her will alone would make Touya walk through. At 11: 26, a pair of footsteps could be heard outside. Sakura rushed to the door and opened it.

As the dark shape of Touya came closer to the light of the house, Sakura saw that he was carrying something very big. He walked through the doorway sideways, and Sakura saw brown hair and two feet, the rest of the body shielded by Touya's large frame.

"Close the door. It is damn cold out there."Touya said and hurried to the living room. Sakura shut the door and ran to see who Touya carried in. "Get a warm blanket, Sakura, will you?" Touya said before she got close enough to see the person's face.

She ran to her bedroom and grabbed her covers, disrupting a sleeping Kero. "What's going on?" He yelled after her.

Sakura ran down the stairs and turned the corner to the living room. She rushed to the body, who was lying on the couch. Then Sakura saw the person's face.

"SYAORAN!"

Author's note: That's all, folks! Next chapter will be up in a few days. Please review. Constructive criticism welcomed. Flames not.


	2. Ch 2 News of a foe

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original CCS characters, but the new characters have come from my very own (and messed up at times) imagination.So please don't sue. 

Author's note: Enjoy and please review. Thank you.

**At the Kinomoto household, 12:00 at night.**

Sakura was kneeing beside Syaoran, drying off raindrops from his face. "How did you find him?" Sakura asked Touya, who was sitting in a chair, watching Sakura tend to Syaoran.

"I didn't. He stumbled in front of the car. I almost ran over him." Touya sighed. " I figured it would be easier to bring him to the house then drive all the way to the hospital."

Sakura nodded, never taking her emerald eyes off of Syaoran's face. "Is he going to be ok?" she whispered. Her vision suddenly became blurry and she relieved that she was almost crying. She turned her head away from Touya, and wiped her tears, hoping Touya did not notice her emotion. He didn't.

Touya walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Sakura's shoulder. "He seems ok. I think if we just let him rest, he will be fine." Touya said softly. Sakura looked up at him and smiled. The next hour passed fairly in silence. Touya had woken up Fujitaka who had come in and checked Syaoran. After checking Syaoran's temperature, he announced that the boy seemed ok. For the next half hour, he talked with Touya about the car ride, and then shrugged.

"We can't do anything until Li-kun wakes up..." Fujitaka said, yawning. The two men then tried to convince a very resistant Sakura to go back to sleep. It took the good part of the next hour into the night before they manage to get her to agree to get some rest, on condition that one of them would watch over Syaoran. Touya gave up his covers to Sakura for the night, and grabbed two more blankets. When the door to Sakura's room was finally shut, the Kinomoto men looked at each other and sighed.

"You go on to bed." Touya said as Fujitaka started to head for the living room. He looked at his son, then the living room, then at his own bedroom. The call for sleep seemed to have won over the argument, and he bobbed his head up and down. Touya walked into the living room as his father shut the door. Touya looked at the unconscious Syaoran, who chest raised and fell deeply. Touya covered Syaoran up again, and then sat himself in a chair facing the sofa.

"Stupid Gaki." Touya muttered, raising his voice just above silence. "You made Sakura sad. You made her worry."

Syaoran's response was another deep breath. "You know, Sakura has not been the same since you left...it was you, I'm sure of it. Some days I can't really tell myself whether Sakura is really happy or faking it." Touya sighed. "She sometimes has this...look...in her eyes. That's when I can tell she is thinking of someone." he grinned as he watched Syaoran chest move up and down. "You know, you aren't half bad when you are like this. I could get to even liking you if you never moved. That way you would stay away from my sister." he paused.

"...but she won't stay away from you. I know that. You know, I would rather she hang out with you then with that Hiyoshi guy. He did not even have the guts to glare at me," Touya laughed. He got up from the chair, walked over to Syaoran, and leaned over him. Touya tucked in his blankets then he pointed his finger in Syaoran's sleeping face. "But if you ever try and hurt Sakura again by leaving without even writing to her, I will kill you, Gaki."

"...maybe I should start calling you Syaoran Bozu... nah, I'll only start doing that when you stop being such a little pisshead around me." Touya let out another small laugh and then settled back into his chair.

**Kinomoto household. The next morning, very early**

Touya woke up wondering where he was. His back felt very uncomfortable, and his clothes were stiff. Smells of hot food drifted up his nose, causing his eyes to open to a very disturbing scene.

Sakura was sitting on the sofa, next to the Gaki's body. She was leaning very far over him with washcloth and wiping his face gently. She cocked her head to one side and ran her other hand through the messy brown hair, letting her fingers entangle for a few seconds before extracting them. The expression on her face was unreadable; it was as if she was lost in other world.

Touya felt anger coming slowly up. Even when the Gaki was asleep, he was affecting her! "Sakura!"

She looked up, and blinked a few times. "Huh?" Sakura's expression showed that she was confused. "What's wrong, Touya?"

Touya looked at her. It was as either she did not remember what she did seconds ago, or she was playing dumb. He guessed dumb.

"What were you doing with the Gaki?!"

She looked at him with big, innocent eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Touya bit his tongue from lashing out at his sister for being that close to the Gaki. He instead stomped his feet and went to the table. Fujitaka raised an eyebrow at Touya, who ignored it. "Hey, Kaiijuu, aren't you gonna eat?" Touya called back.

Sakura shook her head and continued to look at Syaoran.

"She already ate."Fujitaka said as he tossed a green apple to Touya. "I've already checked Li-kun and he seems to be fine. We'll just give him time to wake up." he glanced at his wristwatch. "I'm late."

As Mr. Kinomoto opened the door, a familiar face popped up. "Tsukishiro!" a surprise Fujitaka said.

Yukito stepped in smiling gently, and bowed his head. "Good morning. I heard To-ya was back from the university."

Touya stepped into the hallway. He and Yukito stared at one other, sending messages without the need of spoken words. There were a few seconds of silence before Fujitaka said a quick hello and good-bye to Yukito and rushed out to his car.

Yukito stood in the doorway for a few more seconds before Touya coughed a come in. Sakura stood up and smiled when she saw the two men return. Yukito was surprised to see Syaoran and a quick story of what happened was told.

"He'll wake up, I promise." Yukito said in a reassuring voice to Sakura, who returned to tending Syaoran.

"Come on, lets' go outside." Touya said and waved his hand towards the door. Once out of Sakura's hearing, Yukito and Touya sat down on a pair of old, wooden chairs.

A few minutes of silence passed before Yukito spoke. "She really does love him, doesn't she?" he said in a soft voice, eyes looking at the sunrise.

"What are you blabbing about?" Touya spat.

"Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun." he paused. "She loves him. I doubt she knows it herself, but I can see it...in her eyes."

"You're insane. She's not ready for that." Touya said, anger growing in the pit of his stomach. "And that Gaki is not the one for her."

Yukito only shrugged. "I think you know it too. You are afraid that you will lose her, aren't you? That if Syaoran-kun loves her back-"

"Shut up."

Yukito stood up and kneeled next to Touya, looking up at him. "I just want you to remember that, while you may not always have Sakura, I am always here for you, my friend."

Touya looked back into Yukito's eyes. He knew, deep down, in the back of his mind, that what Yuki was saying about his sister might have a grain of truth. Maybe even more then a grain. Through Yukito's words invoked anger in him, his reassurance calmed him greatly. He nodded, finding words difficult to say.

"Is this why you came? To remind me I will always have a friend?" Touya asked.

Yukito nodded. "I heard from Kero that Syaoran was here. I felt that you would have needed me."

Touya smiled. He felt...something, when he was with Yukito. Reasurance? Confidance?He did not know nor care. Yuki was somehow always able to tell when to take Touya's words at face value,and when to look for the hidden meanings. Maybe it was this fact that made it so easy for Touya to be around him. "Do you...wanna grab a coffee?" he said suddenly.

Yukito looked up and smiled. He looked back at the house. "What about Sakura-chan?"

" As long as the Gaki stays unconscious, she's fine." he growled. Yukito smiled again and led the way back inside the house. Sakura looked up from watching Syaoran, a questioning look in her eyes. "I'm...we're going out for a few hours." he thrust his head towards Yukito, who still had a small smile.

Sakura looked from Touya to Yukito. "Hai.Where are you going-"

A loud noise interrupted the last part of Sakura's sentence when two slender figures came rushing into the room. A tall boy with glasses and blue hair walked in front a girl with long black hair. All five in the living room looked at one another.

"Eriol-kun? Tomoyo-chan? What are you doing here?" Sakura said as she jumped up from beside the couch, and stared at the two newcomers. Tomoyo and Eriol glanced at Sakura, then at Touya and Yukito, then at Syaoran.

"My apologies, Sakura-san, but-" Eriol started.

"We need to talk." Tomoyo finished.

Yukito raised his eyebrows but said nothing. 'Trouble has started again?' he questioned himself. He glanced at Touya and figured the matter could wait for a few more hours since Eriol and Tomoyo weren't jumping up and down screaming that there was a monster or something similar.

"Whatever. Kaiijuu, don't burn the house down." Touya said and headed for the door. "Where do you want to go, Yuki?"

"A new place, downtown. I'll drive." Yukito replied, bowing to the three teenagers and went with Touya. Sakura sat back down on the couch next to Syaoran, unconsciously placing her hand on top of his. "What is it?" she asked.

Tomoyo bit her lip and looked at Eriol to start. The boy pushed his glasses up to the top of his nose and began. "Someone is looking around for you, Sakura-san." he paused and sat down on the chair opposite Sakura and Syaoran. " I don't know who this it is. They are trying very hard to hide their aura within themselves. I happened to have become aware of this...thing, for lack of better word," Sakura opened her mouth to say something but Eriol put up his hand.

" I don't know if ...it...is a person. Or a magician. Or something we have never come across before."

"How do you know if the...thing...is looking for me?" Sakura interrupted.

Eriol shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really. Like I was saying, I became aware of this thing when it passed very close by me. I was walking down the street when a car crash happened, and it let out some sort of energy."

"What energy?"

"That's the scary part. I've never felt it before. Neither has Clow. Anyways, after it let out this energy, the thing turned to me and-"

"How did you know it was not human?" A new voice said loudly, causing three heads to turn toward the stairs. Kero floated down, a confused look on his face. "I was getting some food. What about this thing?'

Eriol's eyes glazed over as he described his encounter. "It's eyes. They have no feeling. No color, other then gray. The aura didn't feel human. I couldn't even tell if it was a female or male."

Kero nodded his head slowly, soaking in the words. "

" It turned to me and looked at me. Then I felt my chest get heavy. Its' desire to have something was passed through it to me. I think I became a vessel for it."

"What sort of vessel?" Kero asked.

Eriol looked at Sakura, who was looking back at him with wide eyes. Then he glanced at the sleeping Syaoran on the couch. "It wanted me to deliver this...message. I could tell it wanted to have Sakura, though it did not know who or where she was. The desire to have you, Sakura-san, is so great. I had to warn you about this creature."

Sakura nodded, and gripped Syaoran's hand tightly. "We could really use you, Syaoran-kun," she whispered. "Tomoyo-chan. What are you doing here?"

Tomoyo looked at Eriol. "I was walking over here when I saw Eriol-kun run past me. I had to ask what was wrong," she said, tears forming in her eyes. "What's going to happen, Sakura?"

Sakura looked at her. She shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing will happen to me." She patted Tomoyo's shoulder. "All I have to do is keep a look out for this thing. It doesn't know where I am, right, Eriol-kun?"

Eriol shook his head, causing his glasses to slip down his nose. "No. It has no idea. But you aren't the only one it wants..."

Sakura and Tomoyo both stopped moving and looked at Eriol. "Who else does it want?"

Eriol stared deep into Sakura's emerald eyes. "It wants the one that is connected to you."

Sakura let out a small 'eep!' before she turned bright red. "How...how did...how did you.." she stuttered, unable to make a full sentence.

"Hoe? What's this, Sakura?" Tomoyo said, her sadness suddenly gone, video camera out. Sakura blushed even redder.

"The one who is your true love. I believe a part of him is inside of you now, eh?" Eriol said, slightly mockingly. Sakura glared at him.

"How did you find out about that?!" She finally shouted. Tomoyo kept the video camera aimed at Sakura's face. Eriol grinned.

"I have my ways. The 'One's may have never interested Clow too much, but I find the subject quite entertaining." he cocked his head to one side. "You don't know who he is, do you?"

Sakura shook her head, not trusting herself to say what she was thinking about Eriol at the moment. He let out a long sigh.

"I guess we just have to wait and see, won't we? But," a serious tone of voice replacing the merry one, " we must find out who he is soon. I don't know how long it will be till this creature finds you and your 'one'."

Sakura nodded, her face still blushing crimson. Eriol then looked at Syaoran and let out a small 'oh', as if he just noticed the person sleeping. "What is my cute descendant doing on your sofa, Sakura-san?"

Tomoyo looked at Syaoran, and filmed him. Sakura rolled her eyes, and began to tell the story of how he got there.

"Interesting," Kero said at the end of Sakura's telling.

"What, Kero-chan?"

"The brat's appearance right when something is looking around for you. They could be related."

"Maybe. But until sleeping beauty wakes up, we won't know." Eriol said and patted the top of Syaoran's head. "I am terribly sorry for making this visit come to an end so soon, but my services are required at home." Eriol said.

"Where are you going?" Tomoyo called after him. Eriol looked back and flashed a bright smile.

"I am going to see if I can find anything in my library about this creature. Tata, ladies."

Sakura waved him off and went back to the sofa and sat down beside Syaoran. When she looked up, the lens of a camera was inches away from her face.

"Tomoyo! Don't you think you have enough footage of me?" Sakura asked and pushed the camera out of her face.

"Yes, but not one of you and your true love!" Tomoyo squeaked. "You are so kawaii, Sakura!"

Sakura glared at her friend. "I don't even know who it is! I haven't even met him!"

"That's not necessarily true." Kero said as he stuffed a large cookie in his small mouth. "You might have met him before now but did not know it at the time." Tomoyo eyes sparkled with happiness as she whipped the camera back into Sakura's face. Sakura threw a large pillow at Kero, who went sailing across the room from the impact.  
"Hey!" he shouted.

"Answer me this, Kero-chan. If you can hardly remember your days with Clow, how do you know so much about this 'One' stuff? What if you are making all it up?" Sakura said.

Kero pushed the pillow off himself and grabbed another cookie. "I read some magicians' papers. They sometimes send them across the ocean and I intercept them. And you know that I would not make it up." Kero said hotly and floated back up the stairs.

"I wonder who the 'one' for you is." Tomoyo thought out loud. She put down the camera and looked sternly into Sakura's eyes. "But if he ever hurts you, tell me. I'll fix him." she said with a quick nod of her head.

Sakura smiled at her friend. "Hai."

**Later that day, in the Kinomoto house**

Sakura sat next to Syaoran. For a few hours Tomoyo stayed with Sakura, until Tomoyo's mother called for her to come home. Sakura was then left alone in the house as she waited for her brother or her father to return.

Sakura reached out and grabbed Syaoran's hand. She took her free hand and outlined Syaoran's face, feeling the warmth of his skin. She sighed. Other then the steady rise and fall of his chest, he remain motionless. One could have guessed he was a statue.

His face was very peaceful, unaffected by Sakura's fingertips. Messy brown hair came just above his eyes, covering his eyebrows slightly. Sakura felt the need to continue to stroke his soft hair, for lack of anything better to do.

It felt nice, sitting close to him. 'He has grown so much,' Sakura thought. '...into someone very handsome.' Sakura blushed. She found herself drawn toward him, much more then to Hiyoshi.

Memories swam into her mind. She remembered Syaoran and herself fighting. How did that turn into a friendship? she wondered. Syaoran's red face and rare smile came into her thoughts. His hand reaching for her's, his calm voice. Thoughts about how he allowed her to use his first name drifted past.

'After all this time, I still have a crush on him', Sakura thought. It was the way he treated her that she liked. When they became friends, of course. 'Or,' Sakura thought, 'Was it before then? He always treated me like a rival. He almost always assumed I could do something, and not need his help'.

She sighed. Yet, he helped her many times. Pulling her up from the elevator, catching her when she fell, letting her call him by his name, were things that he only did for her.

Sakura's cheeks grew warm. A violet blanket passed over the sky as the hours ticked by. Sakura had moved to the floor, sitting up and watching colors blur on the television. Keeping her eyes only half open, Sakura's head was on the edge of the couch. The TV was not offering her the distraction she wanted, and she abruptly turned it off. Silence surrounded the house, and Sakura was left to ponder on the news that Eriol had brought her.

After she had caught all the cards and renamed them, Sakura had a glimmer of hope that all her hard work was over. The glimmer of hope had turned into a shinning beckon after the first two years had passed. Now, it was hard to imagine why anyone would want to deal with her again. What does this...thing...want with a young magician?

Magic. The word in general had been picking annoyingly at her mind lately. She, Kero-chan informed her, was the greatest magician in this age. Sakura, at first, was filled with a strong pride. Never before had she thought of herself as better than anyone, and for a few days, the thought greatly amused her. She was put back into her place, though, after she became, quite frankly, sick of herself. After the glee, being the greatest magician had put a toll on her mind. New questions were raised in her mind. The one that continually popped up was one she was not sure she was ready to answer it.

Did she have an obligation to help people with her magic? At first, Sakura's answer was always yes. Anyone that needed help, she would help. She soon realized that she had overestimated herself, as one often does when they are young. Whenever there was some sort of accident happened, Sakura's heart would begin to tear and her mind race. Where was she then? Why did she not notice something was wrong? What could she have done? Could she have gotten away from what she was doing to help?

Normally, she would spent the next day on her toes, eyes looking for any sign of trouble. This proved to be a great distraction, ripping her out of her routine. Later, as age grew, and wisdom began to make a small appearance, she tearfully admitted to herself that she could not help everyone. Every day, people were hurt, and some died, but that, she told herself, was the way life was. Everyone had to go, at one point or another. With such a great blow to her own beliefs and self esteem, Sakura tried to remake the damage she had done to her own life.

After a few weeks, everything was back to normal. Sleep had come a great deal easier. Life, friends, and school all began to move smoothly. The question still went unanswered, though, for Sakura's own heart would not allow it. Yes, it said, you do have to help all people. But, her mind would caution, at what point do you stop and help yourself? The weight of the subject grew unbearable, and until today, she had put it out of her mind completely.

With the arrival of the news of this creature, the questions returned. If this creature was good or bad, Sakura had no idea. If it grew to be hurtful to anyone, was it the course of life taking place, or was Sakura meant to stop it? If it was hurtful, did Sakura have an obligation to stop it, or to let to go free, doing whatever it was put down here to do? Of course, she reminded herself, she had no idea what it was put down here to do.

More questions pounded Sakura's mind. 'I won't be able to do this by myself,' she thought, pain dancing across her forehead. 'I need help. I need someone who will help me...'

Suddenly, the body behind her moved...

Author's note: Although this chapter is considerably less the first one, I thought it would be appropriate to look into Sakura'a mind and feelings. I would also like to thank my first reviewer, Animus, for lifting my spirits.

Author's note 2:Would you please be so kind as to review? Constructive criticism is greatly welcomed (and always needed), flames not. Thank you.


	3. Syaoran's Most Sacred Place

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters. They come from the genius minds of Clamp.Any new characters, though, are my own. 

Author's note: So sorry to leave you with a cliff hanger on the last chapter. Here is the next installment of my story. Please be kind and review. Constructive criticism welcomed, flames not.

**

* * *

**

Somewhere in Syaoran's mind

A boy stood in the middle of a large white field. For as far as the boy could see, there was nothing. No hills, no grass, no trees, no life. The boy looked around, eyes scanning for any feature that would indicate where he was.

An alien wind drifted slowly across the field, causing his hair to be ruffled. The boy took one more look around him then parted his lips to a question.

"Where am I?"

The words rang out through the strange world. The alien wind came rushing back towards him. Theboy's amber eyes looked around in question, and then he waited. His patience paid off - he heard a distant footstep. He turned his round and in the distance saw a small figure.

It came rushing towards him, flying several feet above the ground. The boy's eyes locked onto the creature as it approached him. The boy looked at the creature, eyes wide in wonder. He quickly gained control over his curiosity, and parted his lips once more.

"Where am I?"

The creature gave no sign it understood. It stood several feet above the boy. Its body consisted of a mix between a horse and a human.

"Where am I?" The boy asked one last time.

At last the creature gave a sign it understood, with a tilt of its chin upwards. 'This'. a soft voice echoed in the boy's head. '...is what you have created, deep inside your mind. It is the most sacred is place, locked from within. No one from the outside world is allowed in or out of it until permission is granted.'

"By whom?"

'Either by yourself, or whoever put you in here.'

"Did you lock me in here?" the words were full of mistrust and anger, something the boy did not mean to show.

The creature remained motionless, unaffected by the boy's harshness. 'Yes,' its voice echoed.

"What reason have you to do so? What does a centaur want with a human?"

'I am merely a messenger.' The creature began to slowly circle the boy, waving his long fingers in the air. 'Do not confuse me with any mortal being on this world, Human. In order to appear to you in aphysical form, I had to go through your memories and pick out one that would not frighten you, nor give you any sense of ease. I choose a magical creature, this centaur, you call it, so you would know that you arenot dealing with simple beings.'

The boy glared at the creature. "What do you want with me?"

'Help.' the voice said. 'You have a power unlike any in my world. A pure heart, a clear mind. But that is not what makes you important.'

A twitch in the boy's eye revealed his surprise at hearing this, yet he kept his comments to himself. The voice continued.

'The one thing of importance you have on this world is a connection. .'

A swift rage swam over the boy. "What! I am more than that! I have more power than you imagine, Messenger! Don't you dare upset me," his threat was responded by silence.

The centaur approached the boy slowly and leaned over so far the boy could see the different shades of gray in its eyes. 'You simple human!' the voice inside of the boy's head said, for the first time in what the boy would call anger.

'You have complex thoughts, emotions, and more power then you desire or deserve! Yet you fill your mind with what you call honor and tradition, blinding you from what makes you important and necessary in this world! You dare and think that you were placed on this world to become a leader of a family centuries old?'

The boy felt shame for the first time in this mysterious place. The sound of the centaur's voice in his head was harsh and grating, causing the boy to kneel before it. His rage, however, was not satisfied to leave.

"What is this?" the boy spat. "What the hell do you want with me?"

The centaur stepped back, a calm voice returning. 'You have the most valuable connection to the one whose help I need. Without you, I am lost. My world. This world. All will be lost.'

The boy's curiosity sparked again and before the boy could stop himself, he asked another question. "What connection?"

'Your importance on this world is that connection. Your power thrives to quench the thirst of the connection. So as long as you are alive, your power will continue to grow. Thus the connection will become stronger. It is the bond you share with this other person that keeps you alive. Likewise, the same is for them. If either of you die, the other will go soon. But combined, your connection is the strongest.'

'Time is short. Your body is trying to repel me. Listen to me now, human, for I have followed your connection this far. My strength to hold you here is great, thus I will not be able to come to you again for a while. You must find your 'other'. You must find them soon, or all else is lost.'

"Why? What is lost? What connection?" the boy shouted. As the words were spoken, the land around began to melt. The whiteness was replaced by black, and the boy felt as though a large weight had been taken off. He was plunged into darkness, no sound, no centaur, no white field.

**

* * *

**

Inside the Kinomoto household.

Darkness surrounded Syaoran. There were odd smells in his nose, something he did not recognize. His body tensed up. _'Where am I_?' he thought and listened, not daring to move.

Sounds of clothes ruffling reached his ears. Breathing. Humming. Footsteps on a wooden floor.

_'Was I kidnapped? Why am I lying down? What am I lying on?_' he thought.

His questions stopped when footsteps drew close. All thoughts were gone from his mind, as though their absence would help his hearing. A slight wind touched Syaoran's skin as a body passed by him. _'They are close'_.

Shuffling. Humming. More footsteps.

'_...closer..._'

Something large passed by him, again causing a slight wind, but this time it did not move forward. It stood right next to Syaoran. He held his breath.

Something brushed up against his face. He felt his hair tickle as it was swept away to the side of his head. The person's hand stayed on his cheek a awhile longer. He heard a long sigh then footsteps moving away from him. _'What was that?_'

The creak of a door opened and Syaoran strained his ears to hear. A deep voice was talking.

"-I'm back. How's the Gaki?"

Syaoran's eyes flashed open and he sat up. Colors and shapes blurred his image from being in darkness. _'I know that voice,_' his mind was racing. _'No, it can't be! I must be dreaming!'_

A new soft, woman's voice answered the deep one. " He's fine now. Just a few minutes ago he was moving around on the couch, shaking his head, muttering something. But he suddenly stopped, as though nothing happened."

At last Syaoran was able to see where he was. He touched his feet to the carpet, and attempted to stand up. Dizziness rocketed his head as soon as stood, and he had to balance with his arms to not fall down.

The voices were now moving, coming toward him.

" It was scary to see him like that, I didn't know what to do." the soft voice said. "I wish he would wake up-"

The two people rounded the corner, stopping in their tracts, staring at Syaoran. Syaoran looked at the girl and the man, two people who he had put in the back on his memory for so long. Two unmistakable people, lost under years of new memories, and now they were standing in front of him.

"SYAORAN!" The girl yelled and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck. The weight of the girl proved a challenge, along with dizziness, and Syaoran fell backwards onto the couch.

_'She is real. She is not a memory anymore. She is right in front of me._' Syaoran thought. He felt wetness on his neck. The girl pulled herself up from him, letting a tear drop fall. _'Are those tears? Why is she crying?_'

"Get off him, Sakura." the man said, his tone calm. The girl looked up and nodded, smiling. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up, offering a hand to Syaoran. He took it and pulled himself off the sofa. At last, he opened his mouth.

"Sakura?" he looked at her. She nodded quickly. He looked at the tall man. "Touya-san?"

Touya nodded his head once. Syaoran eyes wandered around the room he was in, questioning. His lips moved apart, but before he could get a sound out, Touya held up his hand.

"Let's first get you some food." his eyes looked the boy up and down. "And some new clothes." Without waiting for a response, Touya went up the stairs. When he came back down, arms filled with clothes, the table was set and Sakura was running around the kitchen, smiling. Syaoran sat at the round table uncomfortably, still unsure of why he was there.

Touya tossed the clothes to Syaoran. "Get up. Put this on," he gestured toward the pile in Syaoran's arms. "Those are my clothes, so they'll be a big on you."

Syaoran said nothing and went upstairs to change. A few minutes later, he came back down slightly resembling a clown. The sleeves of the shirt Touya gave him went far pass his hands, so he had to roll them up numerous times. As for the pants, a small leather belt was all that was keeping them from siding off his waist.

Touya snorted when he saw the boy, while Sakura seemed not to notice. She quickly placed a plate of warm food in front of Syaoran, who eyes gave away his hunger. The dinner passed much in silence, Touya leaning back on his chair, Syaoran stuffing food in his mouth, and Sakura looking from her brother to her friend.

"So, Gaki, are you going to tell us why you are here, or do we have to guess?" Touya said, keeping his eyes glaring at Syaoran.

Syaoran looked up from his food, glancing at Sakura. "How long have I been here?"

"One full day. Touya found you in the street not far from here." Sakura said. "What were you doing, Syaoran?"

Touya eyes flashed in anger for a moment when he heard his sister call the Gaki by his name, instead of Li-kun, but he bit his tongue.

Syaoran paused for a minute, trying to remember. "I don't know. Last thing I remember is being in the jungle, training. I don't know how I got here."

"Where have you been all this time?" Sakura asked.

"China." he said, glancing at her, "I've been training to take over the family. The Elders are getting ready to appoint new members and I..." he shrugged. "I just have to be ready." he then looked down at his plate, attempting to hide the small red color his cheeks got when he looked at the girl next to him.

Touya felt himself get annoyed with their small talk, and before either of them could say another word, he spoke. " You still haven't answered my question, Gaki. What are you doing in Japan?"

" I don't know." Syaoran whispered, "Something made me come here."

* * *

**12: 24 at night in the Kinomoto house**

Syaoran lay awake looking at the ceiling. He rolled over onto his stomach and looked out the window. After dinner, Kinomoto Fujitaka came home from his work. He expressed his joy over Syaoran being awake and another small interrogation followed. Kinomoto-san question Syaoran for ten minutes over what he remembered, which was nothing, then gave up. ("My only guess is that this is a bad case of sleep walking" he joked.) Touya then took Mr.Kinomoto off Syaoran's shoulders, leaving Syaoran alone with Sakura in the living room for a few minutes.

Most of that time passed in an akward silence, neither sure of what to say. Sakura finally broke the ice by saying, "We were all worried over you, Syaoran. Even Touya."

"Thank you," Syaoran said, "Saku...Kinomoto-san"

Sakura looked at him with a confused look. She then broke into a sweet smile. "It's alright. You can call me by my first name. You allowed me to use yours, right? It's only fair." Sakura then stood up. "Well...goodnight, Syaoran." she hesitantly said, gave him a small hug, and ran up the stairs before Syaoran could respond.

He felt heat rise up in his body and wondered if he was blushing. Syaoran did not know what to call her after so many years. The fact was, he never did. Sakura's name was something he would whisper to himself at night, when no one was around. This was very rare, only in times when he felt the sting of being alone.

Alone is what he had been for the past three years.

The Elders had devised a new training plan for Syaoran to become the "greatest leader of all the Li clan". Inspired by their plan, they asked the women closest to the young heir, if they could test this training for a few months. Syaoran's mother was a first very hesitate in letting the Elders take total control of her son, yet with advise from the oldest of the Elders, she agreed to it.

Syaoran was then moved away from his life, and put into a survival camp for a few weeks. To the Elders surprise, Syaoran quickly grew very bored of the camp, mastering the basics in days. Thus, a new plan came into being. Syaoran was then on full training for the next two years. The Elders soon began to take great pleasure in testing the boy, appointing harder and harder tasks for him to complete. Syaoran's power never succumbed to the tasks, instead seemed to grow, a side effect the Elders took no notice in.

Along with Syaoran's power, the Elders pressure on him seemed to only increase. Sleep was no longer easy, meditation became very hard, and simple spells now took much more energy then before. He could still accomplish them, and the effect was greater each time, but it also meant that he had to finish his enemies quicker in battle. Once he had completed his mission in minutes, then had to collapse for the rest of the day.

After a year of this training, the Elders began to wonder what was making Syaoran so powerful. His mother managed to avoid all questions about her son's power. She did, however, seem to know the answers, and took great joy in occasionally dropping hints. ( "His power grows every day, and so does his heart...", " I wonder who he fights for...", " Two great magicians, connected...") She would never complete her phrases, leaving them for others to wonder about in agony.

Syaoran's memories of Japan were filled with his friends. In darkness, when he was alone, these memories would remind him of somewhat carefree days. Before he would drift off to sleep, Sakura's face to float into his mind. Her green eyes, happy expression, and welcoming smile would put him at great ease. It was then that he would whisper her name into his pillow.

An overwhelming pain of regret would sometimes emerge from the pit of his stomach, and he would stay awake for the next few minutes, quietly whispering her name to himself, over and over, until he was calm again. He never told her how he felt about her. Syaoran did not know why this regret bothered him so. It was distracting and annoying, yet he could not get rid of it, try as he might.

He also began to notice another presence inside of his aura. At first, he was greatly alarmed. Only powerful magicians could put their aura into others. He went to his mother and sisters and told them his fears. Instead of banishing the aura from his body, they rejoiced, and told him to never attempt to get rid of it.

So mysterious aura became a part of Syaoran. At times, he played with it, hoping to discover whose aura it was. It gave off a small tingle of warmth whenever his aura neared it. Syaoran's aura would 'touch' the other aura gently, and a small feeling of pleasure would then diffuse through his body. After hours of playing with the aura, all he ever found out about it was that it belonged to a girl. 'That's fine for now,' he reminded himself. 'Its not like this aura is going to be leaving me any time soon.'

Syaoran rolled onto his back again. He pushed the thoughts of the aura out of his mind, concentrating instead on the newest issue of the day. Sakura.

Throughout the whole dinner, Syaoran could not seem to keep his eyes off the girl next to him. She had grown so much since the last time he saw her. There was an air of maturity around her along with a small bit of motherly nature. He could tell she was still forgetful and clumsy when she almost dropped a frying pan, yet many rough edges seemed to have smoothed themselves out greatly.

Plus she was stunning. This was the main reason why Syaoran could not stop looking at her. She still had those large emerald eyes and a enthusiastic warm about her, but now curves lined her body and 'cute' could no longer be an adjective for her. Beautiful. Graceful. An angle. These were the first words inside Syaoran's head when he saw her.

Syaoran then felt horrible. He cursed himself for looking at her in a strange, almost lustful, manner. If there was anything his mother and sisters had taught him, it was to never underestimate a woman. Syaoran had grown under the influence that to think about a woman in a disgraceful way was shameful. ( "A woman is not the tool of a man, to be used and showcased like an animal. She is a companion, a friend, and sometimes she is the only thing that man is living for." Yan Li had once said.)

This had never once caused a problem until recently. When he was young, Syaoran still had the notion that girls were a mix up in nature. 'How on earth could they affect a man like that?' he would wonder. It was so bizarre to him that when he found himself drawn to a girl, not a guy this time, he mistook it for almost anything. ( "I was sick this week, maybe it hasn't worn off yet." ) Yet, after he finally admitted to himself the truth, somewhat horrifying to one so young, he felt the feeling was quiet nice. 'I will tell her, one day.' he promised himself. The promise has yet to be fulfilled.

* * *

**The next day at the Kinomoto House**

Syaoran stretched his arms above his head and yawned. He crossed over from the couch to the kitchen, and was reaching for the toaster, when Sakura bolted in-between him and the machine.

"Morning!" She said happily, and turned around. "I can't have you make your own food! What kind of hostess would I be if I allowed that?"

Syaoran quickly jumped back to put some distance between them, blushing slightly. He glanced back at the girl, then sat down at the table.

"...h-hey, Syaoran?"

Syaoran looked up at Sakura, who was hiding her face beneath her hair. "What?"

She bit her lip. "Er, well, since you don't have anything to do, do you want to go to school with me?"

Syaoran was taken back by this question. Since he had not been going at all to any regular school, training taking up most of his time, the thought of going back to such a thing seemed funny. As much as he missed the routine of going to classes everyday, he had lived for too long without it.

Sakura continued to stare at Syaoran, and made a cough in her throat. Syaoran jumped from his thoughts and realized he had not given her an answer. "Sure. " He figured there were two positives in going with Sakura. One, he would be able to walk around the city and try to figure out what made him come here.One teenager walking around might look a bit odd, but with two teens the cover might work. People would just assume that they were walking home from someplace.

The second positive was that if he was with Sakura (preferably alone), he might be able to fore fill the promise he made to himself so long ago. The thought of it made his skin become hot.

Sakura gave a small shout of joy and returned to cooking. Syaoran spied a newspaper across the table and reached for it. It was a small attempt to keep himself distracted from looking at Sakura, and within a minute had failed.

Sakura took no notice of his actions as she continued to cook. Before either of them could speak, Touya stumbled into the room, his hair wet from his shower. He first glared at Syaoran, who ripped his eyes away from Sakura, hoping the older brother did not notice what he was doing.

"Morning, Sakura." Touya said and gave his sister a pat on the head. Sakura gave her brother a confused look.

"I'm not a kaiijuu this morning?" She said, suddenly breaking into a grin. "Look, I made breakfast!"

Touya admired her food before turning to the table. He walked behind Syaoran's chair and leaded over him to grab the newspaper. When his mouth was by Syaoran's ear he paused.

"Ever look at her like that again, you're dead." His voice hissed and he pulled up. "Thanks for the newspaper, Gaki!" he said loudly, and slide into his chair, ignoring the hatred in the younger boy's eyes. He smiled to himself.

Sakura was at last done with the breakfast, very ignorant of the glares thrown across the table. She turned her eyes at look at Touya.

"Oniichan, what are you doing today? You have one day before you leave, right?"

Touya bent the paper back to look at his sister. "I leave tomorrow morning." He took a second to glare at Syaoran before he continued. " I have to meet with Yukito again, but then you and me will do something." He pointed his finger and Sakura.

Syaoran was silent while watching the conversation. He noticed that Touya had only pointed to himself and Sakura, excluding him. That was fine, he concluded. He had no need to join on any outings today, very content with staying inside the house for today.

He also noticed the utter resentment Touya had towards him. Where this was coming from, Syaoran did not focus on, but he concentrated instead on matching the anger. It was at first hard to summon up, considering this family was the first humans he had seen in months. The mission the Elders sent him on took him to the wilderness of China, deep in the mazes of trees and mountains.

Sometime in those months, he was kidnapped, and brought here to Japan. His thoughts were interrupted by Sakura speaking.

"What about Syaoran?"

"The Gaki stays."

Syaoran looked up. In a flash, his anger towards Touya took whatever rational thoughts he had seconds before. "Why? I'm not going to stay locked up in here." he said, more harshly then he intended.

"Because," Touya said through gritted teeth, "We don't know if you are all right. You could fall over unconscious again, and then what would we do? It is safer for you, dear Gaki, if you stay here and rest". A smile tugged at his lips. Syaoran realized Touya was right.

_You fool_, Syaoran thought. _You should have known that_. Touya seemed to enjoy to point the obvious to Syaoran. _He was waiting for you to retort_, Syaoran growled to himself. He turned his head away from Touya's arrogant face and instead came into contact with Sakura's green eyes. She quickly averted them,and Syaoran felt another blush rising up, against his best efforts. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ he thought.

"When is Yukito coming?" Sakura said, quickly changing the subject.

"In a hour. " Touya replied. The tone of his voice told that he did not want to elaborate, and the discussion was finished. "Then, in three hours, I come by again to pick you up."

Sakura grinned again. A silence took up the rest of the conversation, with Touya reading and trying his hardest to ignore the occasional looks between Sakura and Syaoran. Sakura and Syaoran, on the other hand, were trying their hardest not to let the other person know that they were staring at one another. All three failed miserably, and Touya got up discussed from the table five minutes later.

* * *

**Touya and Sakura later that day, walking**.

Sakura loved the evenings. The setting sun was putting on a wonderful show of colors which danced across the sky. There were patches of red and purple, pink and orange, all set against a golden background. It was nature's glory at its best.

Sakura outlined the clouds with her finger, giggling. She twirled around, letting the colors make her dizzy,  
and fell down onto a carpet of grass. Her voice rang out in a sweet laughter and she breathed in the cold air.

"Watch it, Kaiijuu."

Touya glided over to where Sakura and leaned over her. "Come lay beside me, Oniichan. It's fun!" The corners of Touya's lips turned up into a smile and he flopped himself down next to her. The wind caught smell of coffee and tea from Touya's brown coat and blew it past Sakura. Sakura knew the instant the smell entered her noise her brother was beside her.

It was just the two of them, on the ground, staring up at the sky in the park. The rustle of leaves and snaps of twigs filled the silence between them. There was no need for words, neither Sakura nor Touya wanted to bring up the pain of Touya leaving. They just wanted to enjoy each other's company for the small amount of time that they had.

At last, Sakura spoke. "Thank you for today, Oniichan."

Touya grunted in reply, which Sakura knew to mean 'You're welcome'. "I'm really happy you came this weekend," she paused, "Sometimes, at night, I am really sad that you are gone. As much as I said I wanted you out of the house, I really miss you. It is never the same now. Food tastes different, walking home from school seems lonely, even doing chores seems odd. Whenever I feel like that, I try and remember all the fun times you and me had. Just remembering the small things, like chasing after you on my roller skates, can make me happy. Then I am not sad anymore. "

Sakura waited for Touya to say anything. His only response was silence. "When I am not sad, I can think about all the good you are doing. You are living your life. You are changing the world. Someday, you will have a family, and kids, and a wonderful wife. I just want to tell you, Touya, that...that..." She paused again, replaying memories. " I am proud of you."

Unknown to Sakura, Touya's emotions had battled their way up to the surface and, for the first time in months, his eyes were filled with tears. The drops tickled down his cheek, while his numb mind was frantically trying to come up with anything to say to his sister. It was hopeless, as his mouth seemed to have been stuffed with a cotton ball and disconnected from his body. Touya choked on his words, and concentrated on finding her hand. At last he reached his destination and gripped her fingers. Sakura understood. In one, unspoken motion, Touya managed to send his thoughts and feelings to Sakura in thousands of words. She held his hand. It was impossible for him to speak his feelings, Sakura knew, yet she was content with this simple gesture. As far as she was concerned, holding his hand was even better.

* * *

Author's note: At long last, chapter three is done. I am in such a good mood!! Why? It is winter break and I have at least two beautiful weeks to relax AND type! Chapter four, by the way, is well underway and going through the painful process of editing. Expect sometime in a week. (Cuz by then Ch.5 will be underway....) 

Author's note2: First, I would like to thank my wonderful reviewers. It has lifted my spirits and inspired me to write more. Plus, the questions that you asked were SUPER! Please review, constructive criticism is always welcomed (and always needed), flames not. Thank you.


	4. Ch4 A day at school

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters. Any new characters, though, have come about from my own imagination. 

Author's note: First of all, I would like to thank my wonderful reviewers, with your wonderful questions, who have asked things I may have overlooked (I'm human, all right! I make mistakes!!) Enjoy the 4th chapter in my lil saga!!

* * *

Syaoran had always been a light sleeper. It was a habit which he developed when he was very young and new to magic. Any strange feeling at all and his eyes would be wide open. It was a sixth sense, his mother once said. Thus when Syaoran noticed a shadow over his eyes in the dark living room of the Kinomoto house, he already had woken up. Yet it proved to be useless as the person who had woken him was well prepared. The person put a hand of steel over Syaoran's mouth to keep him quiet then half picked up, half dragged Syaoran across the room and out the door. 

Syaoran twisted and kicked his legs half-heartily, for he knew the person who held him did not know how to use magic. Once outside, a chilly wind bite at Syaoran's exposed skin. "You make one sound, Gaki, and I'll lock you outside." a deep voice growled. _Touya, you ass_, Syaoran thought. Now that he knew who his captor was, Syaoran stopped wiggling and went limp.

The hand over his mouth had not moved, so Syaoran was only able to make muffled sounds, many of which were directed at Touya. Touya, meanwhile, seemed not to notice or care and he continued to dragged Syaoran across the lawn. After another ten minutes of walking, Touya reached his destination. It was a secluded field of grass, hidden behind a wall of trees and bushes. At last he removed his hand from Syaoran's mouth and let go of his body. Syaoran was quiet unprepared for the sudden loss of balance and he fell onto his back, knocking the air out of him.

"What was that for?"

"You were heavy." Touya smirked. His smile went away after a moment and he looked at Syaoran. "I needed to talk to you."

"No duh. You think you could have done so earlier, like when it was light outside?" Syaoran lashed, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

Touya shook his head. "Sakura would have noticed you being gone. Plus I needed to make sure no one would overhear us."

Syaoran looked up into Touya's eyes and, for the first time since he woke up, he felt no anger emitting from Touya's aura. "What's a matter with you?"

Touya looked down at Syaoran, taking a deep breath. "I hate you," he said simply.

Syaoran blinked. "That's it? You woke me up to tell me that? It's not that hard to figure out-"

"Shut up." Touya interrupted, barely above a whisper. "I want you to promise me something..."

* * *

**At the Kinomoto Household, several hours later**

Sakura ran down the stairs. "I got it! We can go." she pointed to her books under her arm. Touya and Syaoran stood side by side, silent. "Thank you so much for taking us to school Oniichan."

Touya gave a quick nod of his head then headed outside to the car. "Come on, Syaoran." Sakura said,  
turning to grab Syaoran's hand and led him out. Syaoran kept his head ducked low, so Sakura could not see his face. He had been acting somewhat odd since last night. Sakura did not want to press the issue so she left it. He would tell her if he wanted to.

The ride to the school lasted only a few minutes. Sakura got out of the car, followed by Syaoran who still kept his head low. Touya gave his sister a long hug and a quick pat on the head. "When are you coming back, Touya?" Sakura asked.

Touya shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe in two weeks, when I have some more money."

Sakura flashed a bright smile. "Really?" Touya nodded. The bell rang. "Hoe? I thought we had more time. Come on Syaoran, we need to hurry." she turned around and started to take off towards the doors of the school at run. Before Syaoran could follow her and hand landed on his shoulder. He looked back.

"Remember what we talked about." Touya said.

Syaoran nodded. "I won't break my promise." He said then took off running behind Sakura. Touya watched them until they disappeared behind the doors. He let out a long sigh then got into the car and drove off.

* * *

**Inside Sakura's classroom**

When Syaoran stepped on the tiled floor in the class, silence greeted him. Then there was a burst of whispers and giggles. Syaoran hid his face and followed Sakura, who seemed oblivious to the commotion.

"Li! You're awake!" a loud voice said. A short girl with long black hair ran over to him. It took a moment for Syaoran to recognize who this girl was, her features much different then before.

"Daidouji-san?" he asked. Tomoyo nodded. "You're in Sakura's class?"

"Yup," she said. "Kids from the same school normally stay in the same class, at least for half of the day. Then the other half they mix us all up. But I'm not the only one you know," she turned around and pointed to a person in the corner.

The person pushed his glasses up to the top of his nose and walked over. "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

Syaoran could not believe it. "Eriol! What are you doing here in Japan?"

Eriol grinned. "I'll tell you later" he straighten his shirt then went back to his seat before Syaoran could say another word.

"Sakura-chan, who is this?" a new voice said and Syaoran turned around. There was a new boy next to Sakura. He was a very tall thin looking boy with a deep voice. His jet black hair was in a stylish mess, sticking up in odd places, and smelled of hair product. His dark green eyes looked at Syaoran with resentment. Syaoran, on the other hand, did not care who this person was.

"Hiyoshi-san! This is my friend Li Syaoran." Sakura introduced them. They shook hands for an instant then let go.

Hiyoshi glared at Syaoran. "Are you the Li Syaoran? From China?"

"Yes." Syaoran replied coolly.

"I heard of you from you old classmates," he said, his face lighting up in a very fake smile, "And in a few more...selective communities." Syaoran raised his eyebrows, picking up the hint.

Syaoran glanced from Hiyoshi to Sakura, who was looking at him. They both averted their eyes from each other and blushed slightly. Unknown to them, a camera caught it all. In the corner of the room, Tomoyo and Eriol were watching the interaction.

"Tomoyo-chan, put that away. Can't they at least be given the opportunity to share a moment without you taping it?" Eriol asked, putting his hand in front of Tomoyo's lens, who was grinning ear to ear.

"Of course not! They always take to long. With this footage, they won't be able to deny their feelings," Tomoyo stated. "Plus we still need to find Sakura's 'One'. Maybe the camera will show us who it is."

Eriol rolled his eyes. There was no arguing with her, no matter how hard he tried. "There is a much easier way to find out."

This caught Tomoyo's attention and she put down the camera. "Oh? What is it?"

"First you must put that away. You'll have plenty of time to film them later." Eriol said.

She made no movement towards her camera, looking at Eriol. "Tell me how you will find Sakura's One and I might consider putting it away."

Eriol looked at Syaoran, who was talking to the teacher across the room. Syaoran, he noticed, was being watched by Sakura's emerald eyes. "Very easy," he said, "All we do is ask the right questions."

Tomoyo looked at Eriol with a confused look. "Ask the right questions? That's your big idea?"

Eriol pointed a finger at Syaoran. "I have a sneaking suspension that we will start and end our search with him."

Tomoyo looked to where Eriol was pointing and picked up the camera again with sudden eagerness, yet she put it down again slowly. "Syaoran-kun? You think Syaoran-kun is the One? How will you get any answers out of him? Plus, what he is not the One? Kero-chan said that Sakura may not have met him."

Eriol shrugged. "Right now, Syaoran is our best bet. The only way we are going to find out is if we-

"-ask the right questions." Tomoyo finished for him. "I am taping this not matter what."

At last the teacher finished talking with Syaoran and directed him to a seat. He shuffled his feet up to the desk and his voice rose. "We have a visitor today. I hope you all will treat him with the kindness and respect that you have shown me." This was responded by a muffled laughter. The teacher eyes swept around the room and the class went silent again. "Today we shall begin with the fall of the nobles..." and once again, the monotone voice took over.

Syaoran tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying, yet his voice never rose or deepened. He soon found himself being lulled into sleep. Syaoran looked around the room, hoping to find something interesting to keep him awake. His eyes shifted over to Sakura, who was sitting two rows over and three desks up. He noticed she was also having trouble keeping her eyes from shutting, her hand had stopped moving and she cupped her jaw with her other hand.

Syaoran liked to watch her. She would occasionally move to change her position which was virtually impossible in this hard wooden chairs. Her feet would tap the floor, fingers drum the desk. Syaoran could only see Sakura's ear for she was too far up for him to see her face. He continued to stare, and eventually a hour had passed in this manner.

A pang of resentment hit Syaoran's aura and he was shaken from his staring. Syaoran looked around the room, trying to find the source of the anger. He located it quickly, for the person was glaring right at him. Hiyoshi had turned his torso around slightly to glare at the shorter boy. Syaoran sighed; the boy's aura was terribly weak. It may have been because of this fact that Syaoran had no ill will towards Hiyoshi whatsoever, though the boy seemed to have it for him. Since Hiyoshi was not a threat it was very easy for Syaoran to block Hiyoshi's anger. Hiyoshi's face hardened for a second, then he turned himself forward again.

Syaoran returned to his watching, resting his chin on the desk.

* * *

**Lunch**

Sakura looked behind her. All she saw was the back of Syaoran's head, his messy hair splashed on the desk. _'He's sleeping'_ she thought. _'After all that he said about me sleeping late, jeesh. Better wake him up before the teacher sees'_. This, she believed, was not going to happen, as the teacher seemed much more occupied with pointing to the board and taking a sip out of a bottle he brought with him everyday when he thought the class wasn't looking, but it was always good to be on the safe side. Sakura folded a piece of paper into a small triangle and flicked it towards Syaoran's head. A pointy edge of the triangle hit its target, causing Syaoran to sit up.

Sakura glanced up at the clock and let out a sigh of relief. At long last, the hour of freedom was almost upon them. Students began to wake from their slumber and fidget in their seats as the last few minutes of the class ticked by. Then a heavenly sound came from the halls; "BRRRINGGGG!"

Kids jumped up from their seats with renewed energy. "Hey Sakura-san, you coming?" Hiyoshi called.

Sakura nodded. "Go ahead without me, I'll meet you there." Hiyoshi's smile dropped and his eyes flashed from Sakura to Syaoran.

"...ok, just hurry." he said and went out the door.

Syaoran stood up and raised his arms above his head, stretching. "Do you need to sleep a bit more, or are you going to eat lunch?" Sakura said teasingly.

Syaoran cheeks became a light pink. "Was that you who threw the paper at me?" Sakura laughed and pulled his arm.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to some more friends," she said. While Sakura was leading him, Syaoran had grown another shade of red and was trying to get Sakura to let go of him. It felt a odd for him to be this close to her, though deep down in his mind he was rejoicing. Even so, his mother's strict tongue shouted in his mind and Syaoran unwrapped Sakura's arm hastily.

Sakura walked outside and waved to a large group of people. "I don't believe I have said good morning to you, Sakura-san," a voice said behind her. She turned around and saw Eriol leaning on the trunk of a large oak tree. "It would be a shame to ruin such a tradition."

Sakura smiled. "Good morning, Eriol-kun." she glanced side to side before lowering her voice. "Have you found out anything about that creature?"

Sakura noticed Syaoran's eyes narrowed as he listened in on their conversation. Eriol shook his head. "Very little. The creature is not in my library. It may have something to do with Clow, but now I am not so sure."

"What creature?" Syaoran asked, his voice hushed.

Sakura looked down, her mouth suddenly not able to work. It was never her intent to keep the news of the creature that wanted her from him, yet if he found that out he was sure to find out about Sakura's 'One' problem. The aura inside of her was something very personal, and too many people knew about it already. Plus, it was Syaoran. The same Syaoran that she still had a crush on. He would find out that there was a part of someone in her. Sakura did not know how he would react to that informationnordid she want to find out.

Luckily Eriol seemed to sense this for he said, "I'll explain it to you. Do you mind if I borrow him, Sakura-san?"

Sakura shook her head, still unable to talk. She quickly ran towards Tomoyo and Hiyoshi as Eriol took Syaoran. 'I can't do anything now,' she thought. Tomoyo saw Sakura's sudden mood change.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Sakura sighed. "Nothing. It's all being sorted out." Tomoyo gave her a questioning glance but she said no more. Sakura looked over her shoulder to Eriol and Syaoran. "I hope he can accept me." she muttered under her breath.

Sakura sat down on the bench and listened to the gossip and mindless chatter as she ate her lunch. A large group of girls sat behind her and their voices carried over to her ears. There seemed to be only one topic today.  
"Have you seen the new boy?", "Who is that boy Kinomoto came in with?", "Where is that boy Kinomoto came in with?"

"I don't think he is new." a soft voice answered. " I heard he went to school here in the fourth grade."

"Who cares!" another voice shouted. "He's good-looking. That's all that matters to me."

"...and he is not as tall as Hiyoshi. As much as I love Hiyoshi, it's nice when you have someone that doesn't hurt your neck when you look at him."

"Oh my gosh, have you seen his brown eyes?" another girl said. "Forget good-looking. He is downright hot!"

"Why is he with Kinomoto? Is he her boyfriend or something?"

Sakura at this point spat out the water she was drinking. Her face was already red from listening to the girls talk about Syaoran. The really sad thing was that she agreed with them! Not wanting the group of girls to find her, Sakura escaped to the bathroom. Tomoyo came in a few minutes later and found her.

"Wow. Li-san sure is a hit with all girls!" Tomoyo said, helping Sakura off the floor. Sakura sighed and nodded, her eyes begining to water. Tomoyo saw her friends face and wiped the tears away. "You still like him, don't you?" she asked. When Sakura gave the smallest nod, Tomoyo smiled and hugged her. "Don't worry. Everything will turn out fine"

* * *

**Meanwhilewith Syaoran and Eriol**

"What was she talking about?" Syaoran asked.

"There is something hunting our little cherry blossom." Eriol stated. "I don't know what it is or if it is connected to Clow. So far, nothing has turned up."

Syaoran eyes widened for a split second before he shook his head. Eriol noticed this. "Do you know something about this?" he asked.

Syaoran shook his head. "No. At least, I don't think so. Urg! I can't remember!" Syaoran sat down on the grass, "It's like a dream. I remember glimpses of something, but I don't know if its in the correct order. I can't even recall what was said."

"What dream?"

Syaoran's eyes glazed over. "Whatever took control of my body appeared to me in that dream. It made me come here to Japan." Syaoran hit the ground with his fist. "If I could just remember this dream."

Eriol sat beside Syaoran. "If it took control of your body, then it must have had some sort of magical power. And a lot of it, to take over the heir of one of the biggest magical families on Earth. Do you know how long it was in control of you?"

Syaoran shook his head again. "It could have been between days and weeks. Whatever happened in that time, I don't know. But at least it could not control me for long. It had to have gotten out of my body before it used up all of its magical energy."

Both grew silent, deep in thought. At last Eriol spoke. "Kero said there might be a connection between you and whatever is searching for Sakura. I think he is right."

"You believe that stuffed doll?"

Eriol laughed. "Yes, even though he spends most of his time now playing those video games, I believe him."

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "That's Kero, alright. But what connection could there be between me and that thing?" he paused, waiting for Eriol's answer. Eriol said nothing. "By the way, what are you doing here in Japan? I thought you were studying in England?"

"I moved by here about one year ago. England's clouds never let any sunshine through."

"That's it? You missed the sun?" Syaoran snorted. "What a lame reason to move."

Eriol's eyes glazed over for a second. "Yes...that must have been it. Its been a year so I can't really remember now. Or maybe it was something else..."

Eriol went silent again. He rubbed his chin absentmindedly while toying with his backpack. "Do you feel anyone inside of you?" he asked suddenly.

Syaoran was taken back by this question. It was such a random question that seemed to have nothing to do with the topic. Yet it was also a personal question. The aura inside him was now a part of Syaoran and he felt revealing it would be like uncovering a secret. He did not want anyone to know about this aura, not that he was embarrassed of it, but rather he wanted to protect it. "What business of that is yours? I will not answer such a stupid question!" he lashed out, jumping up and stomping away before Eriol could say another word.

Normally Syaoran's angry answer would have had people cowering before him, but Eriol smiled instead and pulled out Tomoyo's camera, hidden in his backpack. "You wanted proof, Tomoyo-chan, you got proof." he said, grinning. "I think I have just solved the riddle. Now all we need is the last character in this play and all will be answered." Eriol pressed the 'off' switch on Tomoyo's camera.

* * *

**After School**

Sakura looked at Tomoyo, who was cradling her camera in her arms. "What are you so happy about?" she asked.

Tomoyo grinned at her and waved the camera in her face. "Eriol says the answers are on the tape. Oh, I can't wait to go home and watch it!"

"What answers?"

"You'll see," Tomoyo said and walked to her bodyguards, "I tell you later. Are you still going to try out for the play?"

Sakura nodded. She turned around quickly and bumped into someone. "Sorry! That was my fault- Hiyoshi-san!"

The tall boy looked down at her and smiled. "Are you going to show me where the new high school is?" he asked.

Sakura's mouth went dry again. Behind Hiyoshi she saw Syaoran walking towards them. His face was in a scowl ever since he had finished talking with Eriol. He strolled up to them and waited for Sakura. Hiyoshi's eyes twitched when Syaoran appeared beside him, yet his smile did not falter.

"Er...yeah, sure. The try-outs for the play are in a few days. I can take you after school then." Sakura answered.

"What tryouts?" Syaoran asked, looking from Hiyoshi to Sakura. He directed the question to Sakura, but it was Hiyoshi that answered him.

"For a school play at the new high school. Anyone can try out and Sakura-san said she would take me. You can come too, though I doubt a school play would interest the great Li Syaoran from China."

Sakura let out a small gasp. It was a true insult to use someone's first name with not given permission, and with Syaoran it was even worse, considering his quick temper. However, Syaoran merely shrugged.

"I might try out myself. It sounds like fun." He said calmly. His did not even raise his voice or give any hint that it bothered him. "Ready to go?" he asked Sakura, who was too baffled by Syaoran's response to do anything but bob her head up and down.

They walked away together, leaving Hiyoshi standing by himself in the school yard. Once they rounded the corner, Sakura gripped Syaoran in a small hug, who turned beet red.

"That was really brave of you, not to blow up on Hiyoshi-san." she whispered in his ear, still keeping her arms wrapped around Syaoran's shoulders. "You have grown so much."

Syaoran's body stiffened and his breathing speed up. He gave off a series of coughs to get Sakura away from him. She eventually got the message and stepped back. A blush colored her cheeks after she realized what she had just done. Syaoran's breathing had not returned to normal and he squeaked out, "We should go home."

Sakura smiled sweetly at him. _'Some things don't really change_,' she thought. _'I wonder what he thinks of me?_'

* * *

Author's note: Though this chapter is much shorter then the last one, I can assure you Ch.5 is well on its way and is to be expected to be completed sometime next week. Please review. Constructive criticism is always welcomed (and always needed.). 

Author's note2: I would like to wish everyone happy holidays and a wonderful new year.


	5. Ch5 Hiyoshi's big secret

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters. If I did, why the heck would I be writing here? Any new characters, however, are my own. 

Author's note: Thank you to my reviewers. It lifts my spirits and helps me write faster. Plus all the constructive criticism has been a huge help.

* * *

The house was quiet as Sakura tip toed downstairs. There was a thick fog outside the windows, almost begging to be let in. A chill went up Sakura's foot as she stepped on the tiled floor. It was early in the morning, a time when only the people who wanted to race ahead of traffic were up. 

_'I should have put on my socks'_, Sakura thoughts as she made her way to the kitchen. It had become customary for the past week for Sakura to be up around the time when her father and Syaoran woke from their slumber. She had even tried to make breakfast for them, yet her old habits were hard to break. Fujitaka believe that Sakura's morning chances were mainly due to Syaoran, but he never spoke a word. It was somewhat enjoyable to watch Sakura try and flatter the obviously confused Syaoran, who seem to still be recovering from whatever ordeal that put him here.

Fujitaka would leave the house about 20 minutes before Sakura and Syaoran would go to school. It really was not necessary for him to go to his work so early, yet he felt that in a way, it was. Sakura seemed to confused over her own feelings and, with a little bit of luck, she would figure them out.

Sakura poked her head in the living room which Syaoran had turned into a temporary bedroom. The couch had been turned into a bed covered with sheets along with a matching pillow, the coffee table into a bedside table with various books and a toothbrush scattered on it. He had refused to go into Touya's room, for some odd reason, and thus would end up cleaning the living room twice a day; once in the morning when he woke up and once in the evening before he went to bed. Fujitaka tried to reason with Syaoran, telling him that he was their guest, but he would merely shake his head and responded with a polite let down ("You have already done so much, Kinomoto-san. I don't want to be more of a bother then I already am.)

Syaoran would normally mutter this phrase, leaving Fujitaka to scratch his head in wonder. Sakura smiled at this thought; if anything, she could always count on Syaoran to be polite to grown ups in his own way. In the time she was alone with him in the mornings, Syaoran would become very quiet and jumpy. He always kept his head low and when Sakura actually saw his face, normally before they went out the door, it was usually flushed a bright pink. She had refused to let herself to jump to any conclusions, yet this made her mood considerably happier and Sakura would go to school with a grin plastered on her face.

School had become somewhat of a soap opera over the past week. Syaoran was still the main subject of the flying notes (Sakura was mentioned quiet a few times also, but they managed to escape her attention.) Eriol had mysteriously disappeared since the first day Syaoran came to class. There was no explanation for his absence and this cause a slight worry with Sakura and her friends. If Syaoran had any ideas about Eriol's behavior, he kept it to himself. All of these coincidences had not gone unnoticed by the class, and rumors had been circulating all over. ("Li was talking with Eriol, remember? Maybe Eriol ran away from him!", "Have you heard that Li is staying at Sakura-chan's house?", "I bet Li-san sent Eriol on a mission for Sakura-chan, and now Eriol might be lost in the wilderness.")

It was Tomoyo who got the most enjoyment out of the week. She kept her camera with her at all times and caught many significant looks between Syaoran and Sakura. Tomoyo had cut a small hole for the lens of the camera in the side of her book bag and made a few more adjustments, so in the end, the camera was well hidden, and her subjects did not have the slightest idea of the machine's whereabouts. When Tomoyo went home and watched the films, she would squeal with delight. By the end of the week, it was Tomoyo who knew the most about Syaoran and Sakura's feelings, and the subject of the 'One' more then anyone else.

* * *

Sakura walked into the class, followed by Syaoran. She quickly went over to Tomoyo, who was adjusting her book bag to a certain position. 

"What are you doing that for, Tomoyo-chan?" she asked, pointing her finger to the bag.

Tomoyo stopped what she was doing and looked up. "No reason really. When Eriol comes back, you'll find out."

"Does that mean you know where he is?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "I haven't the slightest idea. It's really weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." she sighed. Eriol had never been gone this long with an explanation. " I hope he is ok,"

"Hey, Sakura-chan." A voice called. Sakura turned around and came face to face with Hiyoshi. She glanced over to Syaoran, who let out a big yawn, unconcerned with the tall boy.

"Today is the day that you were going to take me to the try-outs." Hiyoshi said.Sakura nodded. "What time should I meet you after school?"

Sakura thought. "I don't really know. I have to go home and drop my stuff off, but then I'm free."

"Should I walk home with you then?"

"Yes. That would work out. Hey Syaoran," Syaoran looked up at the sound of his name. "Are you coming with us to the play try-outs, or are you going to stay at home?"

Syaoran's brow twitched at the word 'us', but he resumed his poker mask quickly. "Yes, I said I would, so I am." he looked at Hiyoshi when he said this.

Hiyoshi glared at him and swelled his chest up. "It might bore you. I'm sure Sakura-chan wouldn't want that."

Syaoran shrugged, ignoring the venom in Hiyoshi's words. "I have my own reasons for going. I haven't been to a play in a while. Plus you never know what's going to happen," he walked past Hiyoshi to his seat in the back, "I might just get the lead."

Sakura rolled her eyes. This had been going on all week between the two of them. It never reached as far as insults; they were both too subborn to stoop toso low.Syaoran seemed not to really care about who Hiyoshi was, while Hiyoshi seemed determined to hate Syaoran for as long as possible. Syaoran acted with Hiyoshi the same way he did with adults; with a calm and very bored sounding voice.

The teacher came in a few seconds later. Veins popped out in his bald, shinny head as he shouted for the class to become silent. His dead monotone voice took over and the class sank into their seats.

Sakura looked behind her. Syaoran quickly averted his brown eyes and stared at the chalkboard. He did not turn his head around until Sakura faced forward again.

She shivered. The room's windows were cracked open slightly, allowing a cold air to come in and blow its icy breath down the backs of the students. She reached down to her jacket which was on the floor, then stopped, remembering something.

_'Where is he?'_ Sakura thought. _'Come on, where are you?'_

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She searched around in her body for the green aura.

The aura had become quite active over the past week, much to a point where it could not be ignored. Sakura had wondered why this was, but could come up with no logical answer. _'Then again, is it logical to have a part of someone else inside of you?_' she asked herself.

The aura now always stayed just outside of her thoughts, or roaming through her. It only took a thought to summon the aura to her own. It came instantly, and Sakura 'touched' it, probing it for what she wanted. The aura responded with a series of warm waves that washed over her. She stopped shivering as her body warmed up. _'Ahh,...thank you'_ she thought.

Sakura loved this about the aura that resided in her. Whenever she was cold, all she had to do was touch the aura and she would be warmed up within seconds. This was about the only thing it did do, otherwise it was generally useless. But this technique was wonderful at night time when Sakura was about to get under her bed sheets, which were normally chilly and therefore uncomfortable.

Night time was also one of the few times in the day Sakura could play with the strange aura. It never gave her any answers, which annoyed her to no end, but it always was playful and responded by giving her warmth and (very rarely) emotions. Sakura had no idea why she was these receiving emotions, but she tried her hardest to recognize them. So far the aura sent her emotions which she identified as happiness, guilt, and calmness.

Sakura was ripped out of her thoughts as the teacher slammed the desk with an old book, his dark eyes glaring at her. "huh? Wha-"

"Pay attention, Kinomoto!" the teacher snapped. He pushed his glasses to the top of his large nose in aggravation. "Now then, can _someone_ tell me what battle was fought here?"

Sakura bowed her head, hiding her blush, as kids around her snickered. The teacher's eyes flashed around the room and drove the class into silence again.

* * *

**After school**

"Man, am I glad it's over." Sakura sighed as she picked up her textbooks.

"You shouldn't have drifted out like that this morning," Syaoran said, holding out Sakura's jacket for her, "What if they made you stay after?"

Sakura shook her head and turned her back to him as she slipped her arms into her jacket. "They wouldn't do that. Not even the teachers want to stay after the bell today. The weekend is tomorrow and some of them are helping with the school play." She turned around to face him, stopping.

Sakura looked into Syaoran's eyes, trying to decipher them. They sparkled full of intelligence and wit, yet deep within them lay pools of hidden emotion. His eyes flicked away from her's, and he mumbled a soft, "What are you doing?"

Syaoran's face seemed much redder all of the sudden, Sakura noticed. She brushed her hand under his hair and felt his forehead. Syaoran tensed up under her palm and he backed away from her.

"Are you o.k.? You seemed kind of warm." Sakura said. "And your face is flushed."

Syaoran's mouth opened and closed once, then his poker mask came on. "I'm f-fine." He quickly maneuvered around her and headed out the door. "I'll be right back," he squeaked, before turning on his heel out the door at a run.

Sakura looked past him. "What was that about?" she asked to the empty desks and walls.

"I may have an idea." Tomoyo said, appearing behind her. Sakura jumped at the sight of her friend.

"I thought I was alone..." she muttered under her breath and eyed Tomoyo, who took her camera out of its hiding place.

"Has that been there the whole time?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo looked up, bobbing her head up and down enthusiastically. "Yup."

Sakura felt her mouth go dry. "Have you been tapping me?" Nod.

"All day?" Nod, nod.

"Even just now, when I was talking with Syaoran?" Nod, nod, nod.

Sakura felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks. "Tomoyo! You should have told me! How long have you been filming me?" she hissed.

The corners of Tomoyo's mouth lifted up into a grin, her whole face brightening. "All week." Sakura's eyes must have given away what she was thinking for Tomoyo put her hands up in defense. "Hey, don't blame it all on me! I'm doing this for Eriol and yourself as well as for me."

"What! What does Eriol have to do with any of this?" Sakura asked, her voice rising.

"A lot, actually. He's much more observant then we give him credit." Tomoyo replied. "He's the one who told me to bring my camera and film you this week."

"He's been gone for the past week! How did he know you should bring your camera?"

At this Tomoyo only grinned, which made Sakura more angrier. How could her friend be going behind her back all week? She looked Tomoyo straight in the eye, almost daring her to defy her stare.

"Tomoyo, what else are you hiding from me? What do you and Eriol know?"

Tomoyo did not back down and met Sakura's challenge straight on, grinning. "I think I know who your 'One' is."

Whatever Sakura was expecting, this was not it. Her eyes widened and she felt as though her breath had been knocked out of her. The emptiness of the room and the silence became noticeable as Sakura stumbled backwards into a chair to sit down, breaking her contact with Tomoyo's eyes.

Sakura could feel the aura swimming around inside of her, giving out its gentle warm waves. It was so familiar by now, yet it was such a mystery. No matter how hard she tried, Sakura could never break down the only barrier the aura had, the knowledge of who it belonged to. With that knowledge, Sakura did not know what would happen.

"What...how...who?" Sakura's voice whispered. Tomoyo knelt next to her and took her hand, covering it with her own.

"Sakura, by now you should know I would never do anything to hurt you," she said. Tomoyo's voice was calm and even, there was no trace of resentment toward Sakura's outbreaks, nor shame for what she had hidden. "But you must understand, I am not sure you who your 'One' might be. I don't want to hurt you."

"Why do you think that would happen?" Sakura asked, suddenly curious about Tomoyo's mood change. Tomoyo bowed her head.

"I know the way you feel about Syaoran," she said, keeping her head low. "Everyone knows. It is no secret anymore."

Sakura chest fell, her breath escaping her lungs. She bit her lip, refusing to say anything for fear of her words. She would sort out her own thoughts and feelings later, after she knew what Tomoyo knew.

Tomoyo continued, not looking up at Sakura's face. "You love him, Sakura. It's insane, since you're so young, but your emotions go deep. Whenever you look at him, there is a fire in your eyes. You love him with such an intensity I doubt if you will ever rid him from your mind,"

Sakura's feelings rose to the surface and before she could stop herself, she interrupted Tomoyo with a bit more emotion then she would have normally shown. "What are you saying, Tomoyo? That I'm a fool for liking Syaoran so much- "  
"You're no fool." Tomoyo's sharp words cut through. She snapped her head up and looked in Sakura's eyes with a flash of anger. "Don't ever say that again!" Her eyes softened, and she took another breath. "You are too pure. Because you are so pure, you're emotions are also pure. The love you have for Syaoran is so deep, so real-"

"I don't understand."

"What if the one person you love today, is not who you are meant to be with?"

Bam! There it was. The question that had been lying in her subconscious, biding its time until Sakura would call for it, was slammed headfirst into the front of her thoughts. Only it was not Sakura who called for it; it was Tomoyo, dear sweet, carefree Tomoyo, who decided to bring forth the question Sakura had been too scared to ask herself.

Sakura felt as though a weigh had been dropped on top of her. Her friend's words bit at her, tearing her.

_'She's right. I know she is. All this time, this whole week, I've been wondering,...no hoping, that it was true. Ever since I learned of the One, I've been hoping that it was Syaoran,'_ Sakura thought, _'What if it is not Syaoran? What will I do? Who could it be? Who is inside of me?'_

"Tomoyo," Sakura called, her voice slightly shaky from the shock. "Tell me now. Who is it?"

The conversation that had started out with a friendly joking, had turned deadly serious. There was no amusement in either of their voices, both were battling with their own thoughts.

"Tell me now." Sakura said again.

Tomoyo did not cower. She held herself tall and, against every fiber in her body, shook her head. "No." she said.

Sakura felt her mouth go dry again. "Why?" she said simply, almost hoping that Tomoyo would break into a joke and tell her the truth. "I have a right to know."

Tomoyo nodded her head slowly. "You do. But it is not my right to tell you."

Sakura averted her eyes from Tomoyo. It was cruel and she knew it, but anger had gripped her for the first time this week. Tomoyo knew something about who her fated one is, and she would not tell her. How could she keep that information to herself? Even if it was just a suspicion, did Sakura not have the right to know? She did. The aura was something personal, something scared, something that belonged to her.

The aura inside of her belonged to her now. She was bonded with someone who was inside of her. He, whoever he was, was her's. How could Tomoyo not know that? How could Tomoyo keep a part of Sakura away from her?

Sakura looked at Tomoyo and instantly felt a pang of regret and guilt. Tomoyo was crying; not tears, for Tomoyo never cried tears, but her eyes had a glassy look to them. Her round face was a still as ever, but her eyes tore at Sakura. Why, she thought, why was Tomoyo keeping secrets from her?

_'She doesn't want to see me hurt'_ Sakura suddenly realized _'Tomoyo loves me, and she doesn't want me to be hurt. That's why; that's why she is keeping it from me!_' Another pang of guilt emerged from her stomach as she put the pieces together. _'It's not that she doesn't want to tell me, it's that she can't see me in pain_.'

Sakura looked at Tomoyo's petite form. Tomoyo's round face, puffy red lips, and those glassy eyes. The glassy eyes that told Sakura of her friend's inner battle, her inner arguments, and her promises.

'She can't bear it if I get hurt.' Sakura thought. 'I understand now. She doesn't want to give me false hope; If I make her tell me, I'll be hurting her. Tomoyo can barely keeping this knowledge from me, that's why she told me, but she will not dare hurt me, that's why she won't tell me who it is.'

Sakura nodded her head slowly. "Thank you." she said and saw Tomoyo's surprise, then smile.

"For what?" Tomoyo asked, still smiling, yet confused at Sakura's sudden change in attitude.

"For caring." Sakura said simply, and they both left it at that and walked out the door, together.

* * *

**At the try-outs**

Syaoran cranked his head back to look at the ceiling.

The new high school building was impressive. It had a large auditorium which could have easily seated a few hundred of people in there. There were red plush seats, all new, and large red curtains huge before the stage. The stage itself was behind a small pit, which Syaoran guess was used for the band. Its edge rose sharply up three feet from the lip of the pit and then twenty feet back. Behind the stage were only three rooms, the large two were for changing, and the third one was for the extra props.

All around the room there was activity. Girls and boys lined up to one side of the room, waiting to be let into the third room, where the director and head drama teacher were. They all had a nervous air around them, some were fanning themselves with the packet they were given. There was a hushed silence all around, expect in the seats. There sat some more drama teachers, who were interviewing the teens that made it past the director. They would get the final vote, then post all the results a in a few days.

The whole process seemed very pointless and boring to Syaoran. Then again, he was only here because because of Sakura (he grudgingly admitted this to himself after he caught himself staring at her for a second time in half an hour.) The line would move a inch every ten minutes. Many of the kids that were far from the stage sat themselves in the isle seats and a few of the daring ones spoke in whispers.

"Wow, I never thought that there would be this many people", Sakura's voice broke through Syaoran's thoughts. "I wonder how many schools were allowed to participate in this."

"Well, there are the four middle schools, then the two high schools, and then the drama camps, right?" Hiyoshi asked, ticking off his fingers. He looked to Sakura, who nodded.

"Wait, don't forget the city clubs." Tomoyo noted as she scribbled her homework in a journal. "That would make well over two thousand five hundredpeople who could try-out for this play."

Syaoran looked side to side. Sakura and Hiyoshi sat to his left, while Tomoyo sat in front of them. She had bent her legs over the back of the chair so she could face them easily. There were a few other kids from Sakura's class, but they sat on the floor, ready to get up at a moments notice if the line moved another inch.

"So anyways, what are you going to do over the weekend, Sakura?" Hiyoshi asked.

Syaoran whipped his glare in Hiyoshi's direction and was about so say something when someone put their hand on his shoulder. He looked at Tomoyo, who was shaking her head slightly. Syaoran frowned, his eyes still glaring, but he got the message Tomoyo was sending. _'Don't overreact_.'

Sakura looked up, trying to remember. "I'm not sure. Probably stay home. There is not that much going on anyways, since we won't know if any of us are in the play or not. Maybe we'll take a trip into the city for a whole day, right Syaoran?"

Syaoran nodded, keeping his head low. He was sure that he felt Tomoyo's eyes on him, watching him, warning him. He hated when Daidouji was right; he was just about to lash out. But what he hated more was when Daidouji knew she was right.

"What's there to do downtown?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Lot's of things! There is the huge shopping mall, the bookstore, the park. There is also a small zoo in the park, but that's for little kids. Then there is the roller coasters ten minutes away on the train." answered Sakura, smiling. "Plus, this weekend, there is supposed to be a convention of some sort."

Hiyoshi smiled (a fake smile, Syaoran thought). "That sounds cool. I miss the city."

"Is Kyoto very different from here?" Sakura asked.

"Yea. I lived in a small apartment in one of the main buildings downtown. It only had five rooms."

"Yikes! That small?"

"Yup. Bathroom, kitchen, two bedrooms, and one large room which connected everything. The large room had a table built into the floor so it could be put away when we weren't eating. We also had our TV, computer, and a couch in there." Hiyoshi said.

Syaoran noticed how Sakura would widen her eyes at some of Hiyoshi's descriptions of his old home. He hated it and glared even more at the tall boy.

"Hey, Sakura, can you help me find the bathroom," Tomoyo cut in. She looked around the room and smiled weakly, "I keep forgetting. It's such a large school."

Sakura nodded and got up from her seat and scooted in-between the rows. Syaoran looked at Tomoyo with a questioning glance. Tomoyo returned his with a conniving grin, then made her face blank when Sakura hopped over the last seat and walked with Tomoyo up the aisle. She looked at Syaoran one more time, and he caught the sparkle in her eyes. _'I'm doing this for you,'_ it said.

"Huh. I thought Tomoyo-san knew where the bathroom was," Hiyoshi thought aloud. "That's odd."

_'She does, you fool'_ Syaoran thought. _'She wanted to get Sakura away from you_.' He looked back up the way Sakura had led Tomoyo. 'I_ may need to thank her..._'

A few minutes later, Syaoran saw Hiyoshi twist his body around out of the corner of his eye. Sakura and Daidouji must be back, Syaoran thought as he twisted his torso around also. A door opened and Sakura walked in, followed by Tomoyo.

Syaoran flicked his eyes back to Hiyoshi. _'Wait a minute_,' he thought.

Before he had any time to dwell on this, Sakura called for him. "I think we can move up now. The line has shortened."

He stood up from his chair, somewhat sore, but alright. Syaoran walked over to Sakura (before Hiyoshi was able to) and stood next to her. Hiyoshi narrowed his eyes at Syaoran, but did not move any closer. He instead moved back a little bit, closer to where the rest of Sakura's class was.

"What are you going to try-out for, Syaoran?" Sakura asked, her emerald eyes looking into his.

Syaoran had no idea. To him, it made no difference what he tried out for. His only reason for coming was standing right next to him, and his mind seemed to have gone on a temporary vacation.

Sakura's eyebrows rose. "You have no idea? What did you come here for then, to cheer me on?" she said jokingly.

Damn. Sakura had become much more observant then he remembered. "What good parts are there?" he asked, avoiding her questions.

Sakura looked down at the play sheet in her hands. "Well, there is the hero, who is the main character of the story, but kinda dull. The villain, who is much more intelligent then the hero, but weak. Then there are the most interesting characters, who the hero meets on his travels."

"Which one are you trying out for?"

Sakura pointed to a name in the book. "The maid?" Syaoran asked. "Why the maid?"

She smiled, showing how her teeth rested on her lower lip. "Because she is funny. The hero helps her to marry the one man she loves, though he does so through gambling and card tricks. It's a small part, but she gets the most lines out of all the secondary characters."

They stood in silence after that, waiting for the line to move up. It was not an awkward silence, Syaoran thought, since they both seemed comfortable. For the first time since he got here, Syaoran did not mind the long line. Sakura would occasionally lean on him and lay her head down on his shoulder. Whether she did this on accident, or on purpose, Syaoran did not know.

At long last, they reached the door to the third room. Sakura became very quiet as nervousness made her choke on her words. Syaoran then did something he had never done before. He reached down and grabbed her hand.

Sakura instantly looked into his eyes, questioning. She did not move her hand away from his, and he just held it. Truth to tell, Syaoran had no idea why he did it. He just wanted to, so he did. It had been a need forming for the past few days and Syaoran was at last able to quench it. After a minute of holding her hand, the realization of what he had done caught up to him and Syaoran began to worry.

_'What the heck I am doing?_' he thought. His body became very stiff and he wondered what was going on in Sakura's head. _'I should not be doing this_,' he looked down at their hands,'_ I should walk away_.'

Blood pounded in his ears and Syaoran felt his breath come short. _'Why? Why am I doing this? I am supposed to be strong. I am a leader._' He looked at Sakura's face; her eyes were staring at the door to the third room. _'Am I being disrespectful? How can she have this power? Over me! Damn. What should I do now?_'

The aura inside of him swam around in his aura. It speed up, and warmth emitted from it. The pink aura went to his thoughts and pushed on them, causing Syaoran to notice it. _'What are you doing?'_ he thought to the aura. It ignored him and continued to dig into his mind, into his memories. _'Hey! Get out of there.'_

The aura had never acted like this before. Syaoran let go of Sakura's hand, and concentrated on the aura. It dug through his mind, pulling up different memories. No, not memories. Feelings. Emotions. The aura then swam through out of his mind, and through his body. Warmth no longer emitted from it.

"Everyone get out of here!" someone's voice shouted above the whispers. Syaoran's shook himself from the pink aura and look to see who was yelling.

Hiyoshi stood on top of a chair, waving his arms wildly. "Get out! Get out!" He shouted. People gave him mixed looks and some started heading for the exit.

Sakura ran up to him. "Hiyoshi-san! What are you doing?"

Hiyoshi's eyes looked at her and Syaoran saw fear. His green eyes showed fear. His green eyes were looking at Sakura.

Hiyoshi jumped down from the chair and pushed Sakura to the side. "Stay here," he said, and ran towards Syaoran.

BOOOOM! A large chunk of the ceil broke and smashed onto the stage, sending bits of concrete and dust all over. The dust formed a huge cloud over the room and covered everything.

The people in the room looked at one another for one second then panic broke out. They scampered to the exits and ran out, screaming. Just then, two figures fell from the hole in the ceiling, falling headfirst.

Syaoran could not see who they were because of the dust, so he ran towards Sakura, who was coughing but unharmed. "Where's Hiyoshi?" she asked.

"I don't know, the dust covered him." Syaoran responded. "I'll go find Tomoyo." Before she could stop him, Syaoran stumbled away, trying not to step on any more chunks of stone. The sounds of screaming people filled the room, as more got out quickly, afraid the rest of the ceiling would fall on top on them.

Syaoran jumped over the edge of the stage and found Tomoyo, who had fallen into the pit in the commotion. "I'm alright." she coughed. "How are the others?"

" They're fine, don't move. Just stay in there."

Syaoran looked around the room. The dust settled and Syaoran saw Hiyoshi at the wall. He held his hand to his forehead, blood was dripping through his fingers. Syaoran jumped over to him, not caring that he was showing his magical powers.

Syaoran looked at Hiyoshi; his face was cut up, blood was dripping from somewhere on his forehead, and he looked small and weak. Hiyoshi's green eyes looked at Syaoran, without surprise, without any reaction. Syaoran saw all this, and felt no sympathy.

Without saying a word, Syaoran closed his eyes, and concentrated on Hiyoshi's aura. Syaoran gathered his aura and released it, sending it to assault and pound on Hiyoshi's aura. Hiyoshi stood no chance. Within seconds, his defenses were broken and Hiyoshi fell to his knees.

Syaoran felt a surge of magical power being uncovered as Hiyoshi rolled onto his side at Syaoran's feet. _'I knew it'_, Syaoran thought and he picked up Hiyoshi by his collar and dragged him to the edge of the stage. Hiyoshi's green eyes flicked open and closed. Sakura came over to them and looked down on Hiyoshi, her eyes wide to the new discovery.

"You knew." Syaoran spat. Hiyoshi's eyes rolled back into his head for a second then came back. "You knew what was going to happen."

Hiyoshi nodded slowly, his eyes out of focus.

"You saw the future, didn't you!" Syaoran said, his fists curling from anger. "You could have gotten these people out a lot earlier!" he shouted.

Sakura put a hand on Syaoran's chest, who was ready to strike the boy on the floor. Syaoran stopped and lowered his hands. He watched her kneel down next to Hiyoshi, tear a piece of cloth from her jacket and pushed it under Hiyoshi's blood stained fingers. "Just hold it there," she said.

Hiyoshi nodded his head once, then passed out. Sakura got up and went next to Syaoran.

"Hiyoshi is a magician, isn't he," she said. It was not a question."How did you find out?"

Before he could answer, the two figures that fell from the ceiling earlier stood up in the center of the stage. One of them helped the other brush off the dust and concrete that stuck to their clothes. They then stumbled over the debris and kicked the stones out of their way, slowly making their way to where Syaoran and the others were.

Syaoran stepped in front of Sakura, who raised her eyebrows at him, but said nothing. "Get your cards ready..." Syaoran whispered, not turning his head. He bent his legs at an angle so that he could kick easily, at the same time raising his arms so they protected his torso and face.

"Right"

The two figures stumbled around a bit more, coughing. _'What are they doing?_' Syaoran thought. If this was a true master of any art, magical or martial, then they would not be taking so long. _'It might be a trick_,' a voice inside his head warned, _'they might be pretending. Be on guard,_'

"Well, this is certainly one way to get sunshine into a dark room!" one of the figures said in a cheerful voice before going into a fit of coughing.

The moment the words hit Syaoran's ears, he recognized the voice, and let down his guard in utter surprise.

"ERIOL!"

* * *

Author's note: Please review. Constructive criticism is always welcomed (and always needed), flames not. 


	6. Ch6 Syaoran's mission

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters. But any new characters come from my own mind. Really, if I did own this, do you think I would be writing here? I would go and pay people to make it. That's what I would do...

* * *

It was amazing how a layer of dust and debris could coat a person, like a large gray sheet draped over one's body. Dust crept into the crevices and folds of one's clothes, blending clothing and skin to look like one and the same. It was an amazing sight to behold, and an even bigger surprise to find out who was under the dirt and grime. 

"Eriol, is that you under there?" Syaoran called to the figure that was closest to him.

The person coughed a few more times before attempting to answer. "Yes, my cute descendent." Eriol wiped his forehead and eyes with the back of his hand. It did not improve his condition; if anything, it made it worse.

Eriol jumped over a concrete slab and approached him at a walk. Syaoran took a step back. Next to him, an unknown swayed back and forth from exhaustion.

Eriol took no notice of what the person was doing and bowed his head slightly to them; both stared at him, mouths agape. "Good morning, Sakura-san." He indicated the back of the stage with a nod of his head. "I am terribly sorry for the mess I caused. No one got hurt, right?"

Syaoran could not find any muscles in his body that seemed to work enough for him to manage a simple nod. All were paralized by surprise. Sakura, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten more control over her own reaction to relay to Eriol in a shaky voice about the crowd that ran out.

Eriol opened his mouth in a small attempt to smile. "Thank goodness we did not get anyone hurt. That would have been terrible." He patted his clothes again, sending small clouds of dust into the air. Eriol then shook his whole body like a dog, spraying the others in a shower of fine grit. By the end of it, Syaoran could see the outline of the jacket Eriol was wearing and could dimly make out the skin underneath the flexible mask of dust still covering his face.

The sound of a footstep alerted Syaoran to something at his side. Tomoyo had crawled out of the pit and was walking over to them, her eyes locked on the huge hole in the ceiling. Sunshine poured its way into the room for a few seconds before being covered up again by passing clouds.

"Ah, good morning Tomoyo-chan!" Eriol said, raising his hands into the air. "Did you film them like I asked?"

Tomoyo shook herself from her trace. "Yes..." she answered in a small voice, as though any more words would take too much energy.

Eriol smiled again. "Good, good." His eyes dropped to the ground to where Hiyoshi's unconsious body lay. Sighing, he turned to Syaoran. "I had a feeling this would happen. How did you find out?"

After the shock had abated a little more Syaoran's brain restarted again on full power. "What did I find out?" he repeated, unable to answer. "What the hell are you talking about? Where have you been? What have you been doing all this time? What-"

Eriol put his finger on top of Syaoran lips, trying to shut him up. Syaoran was ready to explode with anger. His blood boiled at the sight of Eriol grinning to himself. He clenched Eriol's hand in a tight grip and pushed it back sharply. Eriol let his hand drop to his side, unaffected by Syaoran's action.

"I have found the last player in this little game," he announced, waving one arm behind him. The stranger ignored Eriol, still swaying back and forth. "Actually, the last two players."

Syaoran looked at the stranger, unable to describe him since he was still covered in dust. The stranger stopped moving and turned its head towards him.

Syaoran felt his chest tighten and he choked on his words. Gray eyes. The stranger had gray eyes. He had seen those eyes once before. But where? Where had he seen those gray eyes?

A blinding white flash errupted behind Syaoran's eyes, causing him to cry out in pain. Memories swarmed his mind and Syaoran felt his barriers crumble and his aura succumb. Images and voices were brought forcibly out of the corners of his mind, as though he was reliving the memory over and over. And he remembered. He remembered those gray eyes.

"You..." Syaoran gasped, cluching his hand over his heart. "It was you. You took over my body..."

The stranger showed no emotion, rising instead a few feet up into the air and flying next to Eriol, landing gracefully on the ground. Gray, empty eyes pierced into Syaoran's heart as he felt the stranger's power gather. It was as though a large foot was on Syaoran's chest, pressing in slowly, making the pain last long.

"What are you?" Sakura asked, her voice shaky.

The stranger made no movement to show it understood. _'You found them, Human. You found your 'other'_,' a voice echoed inside of Syaoran's head. The same familiar voice. The same gray eyes. Any doubt that Syaoran had vanished into oblivian. This was the centaur that came to him in his dream.

* * *

The creature looked much different than the last time Syaoran saw it in his dream. It was in the body of a young man, maybe a few years older than Syaoran. 

_'We must leave now,_' the soft voice of the Messenger whispered inside of Syaoran's head.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked, her eyes scanning the room.

Syaoran could not turn to her to explain, his mind too numb. "What? Where?" Syaoran asked. He turned to Eriol, "What going on, Eriol?"

Eriol bowed his head; wether it was in shame, or that he could not look them in the eye for pain and dismay, was uncertain. "I am truly sorry, my dear desendent, but you must leave with it. You must go to its' home." He indicated the young man floating at his side. "You, Hiyoshi-kun, and dear Sakura-san."

"What?"

"All will be explained." Eriol took a step toward Hiyoshi and in one fluid motion, picked up the unconscious body of the boy and handed it gently to the creature. He turned around to Tomoyo, Sakura, and Syaoran. "The game is over, Syaoran. All the players have been gathered. Now the real trouble begins."

Syaoran stood in front of Sakura a bit more, shielding her from the unknown. "Eriol, what's going on?" he asked, keeping his voice as steady as his anger allowed it.

Suddenly, the creature closed it eyes, swaying backwards and forwards. A murmur of sounds began in Syaoran's mind. After a second, he realized that the murmurs were words, being spoken in some ancient and magical tongue. They called to him, making his eyelids shut. They were a lullaby, drawing him closer into its grasp, smothering him.

"Syaoran!" Sakura's scream broke through the cloud in his mind and Syaoran snapped awake again. He could not see anything at first, it was all black. He blinked, and realized what he was looking at. Before him was a portal. A black portal. Its destination could not be seen, and Syaoran was moving closer to it.

"Sakura! Eriol! Tomoyo!" Syaoran shouted, his voicesuddenly weak. Darkness engulfed him. The lullaby of words played softly in the backround of his mind, covering it in darkness. He was in the portal. And where he would end up, Syaoran did not know. After a minute, he was no longer in a state of mind to care.

* * *

"Wake up,pretty boy." a deep voice growled. 

_'Touya?_' Syaoran thought. _'No, can't be-_' he opened his eyes to a strange sky. It blinded him for a minute and all he could do was lay there. His arms would not move. Nor his legs. Nor his whole body, for that matter. _'What the hell?...'_

Someone stood over him, casting a shadow on his eyelids. Syaoran tried opening them again, finding this simple action more difficult then last time. "Ssssaa...haa...haa-"

"Shut up. You won't be able to talk for the next ten minutes, so you might as well not waste your energy."

_'Who is that?_' Syaoran wondered. The deep voice sounded fimiliar, yet he could not place his finger on it. _'Well,_' he thought, _'first I want to be able to move my finger_,' Figuring if the person who was standing over him had not hurt him yet, he was not going to, so Syaoran concentrated on his body.

He started testing every part of him, going through each and every limb to see if it would respond. After a few minutes, he got a tingling fedback crawling up his legs like a spider. His fingers twitched. His toes wiggled. This was good, he decided. Very good.

_'Now then'_, he thought, '_mouth_.' Before he could even click his tongue to form a word the deep voice growled at him again.

"I told you once, you are not going to be able to say a word for ten minutes. You still have two to go. Don't even try."

_'What an ass._' Syaoran thought. Now that his body was somewhat operational, he wondered if he should try and move. The fact that he did not have the strenght to spread his lips apart crushed his ego somewhat, and Syaoran knew he could do nothing expect lay there, feeling like an idiot, and hope that whoever was telling him not to talk would yet not attack him in his weakened state. He dismissed the thought, finding it better to stay perfectly still and wait.

After two minutes, Syaoran spread his lips to his first word in this strange place. "Sakura." Now Syaoran could see, his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sky, and looked around for the person with the deep voice.

"She is not here." the person said.

At last the voice clicked in Syaoran's head. "Hiyoshi." he said, feeling suddenly weaker. _'I need to rest some more,_' he thought.

"Yeah." Hiyoshi stood over Syaoran, looking down at him. He walked behind Syaoran and pushed up on his back so Syaoran could sit up. "I woke up about half an hour ago. There is some other dude over there," Hiyoshi pointed somewhere to the right of Syaoran, out of Syaoran's vision, "He's also knocked out, but he'll wake up soon."

_'You should know, you're a seer,'_ Syaoran thought bitterly. _'You should have seen this coming_.'

The next half hour passed in silence. By the end of it, most of Syaoran's strength had returned and he and Hiyoshi walked the ten feet to the body, which was lying facedown on the ground. Hiyoshi turned him over so Syaoran could see the person's face.

"It's him!" Syaoran gasped.

"Who?" Hiyoshi asked.

The creature. Or at least the body the creature took over. The person was still covered in dust. His eyes fluttered open slowly, revealing blue orbs. _'This is not Messenger._' Syaoran thought.

As if on cue, there was a loud footstep in the distance. Syaoran looked over his shoulder and instantly knew what was coming. "Messenger." he said aloud.

Once again in the body of a centar, Messenger flew over to the three boys. Syaoran stared into the eyes of the half horse, half man. They were gray. _'Hello again, Simple Human_.' It said; the Messenger turned its head toward Hiyoshi, tilting its chin upwards.

"It's you!" Hiyoshi's deep voice exclaimed. "You were the one who came in my dreams!"

_'He must be able to hear Messenger's voice in his head, too._' Syaoran thought. Ignoring Hiyoshi, Syaoaran shouted a loud,"Where's Sakura?"

_'Your Other is somewhere where no one can get to her,Simple Human_.' Messenger said. _'She will be protected, until the time comes.'_

"How do I know that?"

_'I can not tell a lie._' came the soft reply. _'She is part of the plan. Without her, everything fails._'

An overwhelming urge of curiosity bubbled over. "What plan? Where am I? And-" he paused glancing back to Hiyoshi, who was still holding the shoulders of the unknown boy. "What on earth is he doing here - who is he?"

Messenger cocked its' large human head to one side. _'Be quiet, Simple Human_.' It stomped its feet to the boys, raising its long fingers up into the air. _'This,_' the soft voice said, _'is a neutral place between my world and yours. It is a holding place for you until you are ready to leave.'_

Syaoran snorted, deeply offended that he was being referred to as an animal that need a place where it could not cause harm. "I won't go anywhere but Earth." He retorted.

_'You have no power to do so._' the creature said. _'You can not leave this place without my knowledge_.'

"What makes you so important?" Syaoran asked.

_'Silence!_' the soft voice turned cold, angry. _'I am one guardian of the worlds of the world you are going to, momentarily.'_ It continued to walk around the boys in a circle. _'On this world, there is a portal that has been opened to the demon world. Your mission, Simple Human, is to close it.'_

Syaoran could not help but think that there was much more to this then the creature was letting on. "You have magic, Messenger. You close it."

_'Though it may not seem like it, your power excedes mine._' Messenger answered. _'I have the ability to gather all that is needed to save my world. I, myself, can not save it. That is why I have brought you and your companions here. As I have told you before, you have much more power then any one person in my world. It is that power which can save my world.'_

_'As for your other question, I have brought the people who can help you the most with your quest.'_

Syaoran looked back at Hiyoshi and the boy. He was supposed to work with them? The thought seemed ridiculous. Hiyoshi seemed to have nothing but utter contempt for them; as for the other boy, Syaoran had no idea. His aura was terribly weak, much weaker then Syaoran's and Hiyoshi's. "You're joking, right?" Syaoran said.

Messenger ignored his comment. _'You have the second most power when compared to your 'other' so you will be doing much of the grunt work._' Again Syaoran felt his anger boil at being referred to with the same measure as one would use on a slave. _'I figured a seer would be most helpful, so I choose one of the most powerful. He may be lesser than you in terms of strength, but his importance in your quest, his role, is equal to yours.'_

It made sense. Though Syaoran's ego was slightly wounded, he found himself grudgingly in agreement with Messenger - he felt that light in Hiyoshi, flickering beyond the edges. Also, from the sound of Messenger's words, it seemed as though he had no voice about his companions on this mission.

"What about that guy?" Syaoran asked, jerking his thumb toward the boy, yet unsure and distrustful. His anger was momentarily pushed aside in light of the new infomation. "What's his importance?"

_'That,_' said Messenger, _'is the only heir to the rightful throne. He serves two purposes. One is that he knows the land and customs and will be your guide. Secondly is that he will become king if everything is corrected. The surrounding countries will need leadership and stability, government and freedom. Though he does not know it, he has the influence to start this countries on the road to peace. His fate, however, will be decided with the outcome of this mission. If the outcome is bad, he will die. If the outcome is good, he has a chance to become a great king.'_

"What if he dies before the mission is over?" Hiyoshi's deep voice startled Syaoran, who forgot Hiyoshi was there.

Messenger looked at the tall boy. _'Then it is the same as if the mission failed. Thus it is up to you and Simple Human to make sure that this does not happen, and to close the demon portal. The portal must be closed before the truly powerful demons break through, so your time is also limited. If you fail, then so does the fate of this world.'_

Now Syaoran knew that he had no choose in this. Everything was already decided and he would have to follow along like a good little boy. What was his role in all of this? Oh, yes, 'grunt' work. And babysitting. The thought that he could just make Messenger take him out of this place and back to Earth occupied him for a few seconds before being replaced a strange, choking feeling. It was not terribly foreign, this feeling, yet he had been far away from his own emotions it took a minute before he recognized it. Guilt.

Guilt traveled up his chest and made a large lump in his throat, causing any words he wanted to say to come out as silent whispers. _'You can not leave a world to die_,' a voice inside his head said, oddly sounding exactly like Sakura. _'You have the power to save people. So you must try. How would you ever live with yourself, knowing you have condemed so many to their deaths?'_

Hiyoshi's voice broke through Syaoran's thoughts again. "When do we leave?"

'_Now_' was Messenger's reply as he raise his arms, gathering magic. A portal opened before them, and Hiyoshi and the boy were lifted in midair and floated toward it. Syaoran could feel his body becoming weightless, yet he struggled to stay on the ground.

"What about Sakura? Where is she?" Syaoran shouted back towards Messenger.

_'That is of no concern of yours, Simple Human. You must concentrate on your mission, and only on your mission._'

A storm of rage drowned his anger in agony and Syaoran revolted once more against the powers that where sending him to the portal. "You tell me where she is now! Or I'll-"

His threat was cut off as he entered the portal and dissapeared.

* * *

Messenger listened to the silence. It was nice, very calm and pleasing. Along with the silence came the end of the first part of Messenger's job. Now everything that happened to its world would be in the hands of humans. 

Humans. What odd creatures. There were many on the world that Messenger protected, along with other beasts and of the like. As a whole group, humans were terribly boring when compared to their great potenial. They were lazy, and they smelled. It seemed that since they could not comprehend their somewhat pointless existance, they had to invent reasons for them to survive, causing even more pointless wars and such.

Also humans had an incredibly annoying habit of naming everything they came in contact with. Every flower, animal, element, and more had a name. It seemed somewhat silly to Messenger, who did not understand their fascination with names. For names would be forgotten in some odd number of generations, only to have new names appear. In all of Messenger's life, the current earth word for 'rose' must have gone through thousands of changes before they settled on this word, at least for the time being.

It is not as if they could not tell the difference between two things, so why name it? Messenger mussed over its own name for a minute. The Simple Human had chosen its name in passing, most likely without thought. It was cruel, Messenger thought, for its new name to have such little meaning in it. How cruel. Yet, for the time being, this was the only thing he would indentify himself as. At least, until the next human would name it. This was tradition lost in time, far before Messenger was born, most likely began with the first guardian, and will end with the last gaurdian, whenever that may be.

In all, Humans had nothing to offer to the universe as a whole; for they did not live very long, they spent most of their lives in a fruitless quest of some sort or another, and there were only a dozen or so every thousand years that truly strived to become great. Besides these few individuals, Messenger found humans pathetic.

Yet it loved them. Love was a predominant emotion in its being. How could it not love them? Humans, their worlds, their lives, their fates, were the only reason Messenger was alive. It was born to help the universe correct itself, and for some reason, for all their uselessness, humans were the one creatures that could decide the future.

It was in these few individuals, the ones that chose greatness and opened their eyes to their overwhelming potential, that Messenger found admiration for these creatures. Yet with humans, their interaction between each other fascinated Messenger. How they cared loved, how they hated, all mattered in understanding the animals Messenger was to gaurd, and love.

It supposed that the main reason for the many, many emotions (too many, Messenger thought) humans had was because they had two genders, each could not live without the other. And each never, ever being able to understand the other. This was another confusing trait humans had. How, or why, this came about, Messenger could not even pretend to understand. All it knew was that having two genders mattered alot in deciding the future, but not so much in mantaining it.

It halted its thoughts for a few minutes, drinking in the silence. It knew that inevitably it would need to leave the neutral place, and continue the second part of its' job. But for now, silence was needed, and welcomed.

* * *

Author's note: Wow. That took a lot longer then I expected, though I hope the result was worth it. The story is finnaly to the place where I want it, so now the excitment starts. As I have said many times before, reviews are always welcomed (and always needed), flames not. 

Author's note2: The next chapter is to be expected sometime next week, though please forgive me if I am a bit tardy. I want to write the best I can give you, so if the chapter is a few days late, it is for a good reason. Thank you


	7. Ch7 Prince Arutha

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters, however, any new ones are from me and only me. Thank you. 

Author's note: Thank you to my reviewers.

* * *

In the glow of two moons, Syaoran and his two companions ran. Wet snow had been steadily falling for the past hour and they needed to find food, shelter, and most importantly, less attention-calling clothes. It was because of him and Hiyoshi that they were taking the long course around the woods, in order to avoid the nearby village. They both knew that they stood out like giant beacons saying, come get me, I want to be killed! 

Hiyoshi had on the latest fashion, which happened to be a bright red sweater, making their guide swear out loud when he saw it. Syaoran was not much better, with tan cargo pants and a blue hoodie. To make matters worse, they were in a forest, so everything around them was a dark green. Their guide spent ten minutes mumbling before they were ready to leave the clearing they landed in. Syaoran assumed the mumblings were directed at him and Hiyoshi but said nothing.

Their guide was an odd person. He had not spoken more then four sentences to them, half of them being complaints about the clothes. When Syaoran had woken up, having passed out again for some reason after going through the portal, he was standing in front of him, still covered from head to toe in dust.

He placed his fore finger on his lips and said in a hushed voice, "We need to hurry, make no noise, and don't talk."

Syaoran nodded his head, and then proceeded to get Hiyoshi up. It was early morning than, and the sun was out. They followed their guide for the rest of the morning in silence, both Syaoran and Hiyoshi having enough sense in their heads not to ask questions until they were safe. Safe, however, was something only their guide could recognize.

It was not until they passed a small river that one of them spoke. Hiyoshi looked at the sparkling water, a certain longing in his eyes.

"Can we stop and rest for a bit?" he asked, trying to mask his panting.

The guide shook his head, sending bits of rock into the wind. "No, not until we reach my hut." Something in Hiyoshi's eyes must have snagged his attention for the guide then said, "There is food and water there. Warm water."

As they continued their run, Syaoran glanced between Hiyoshi and their guide, who was in the lead. Their guide was obviously used to the cold climate and very well conditioned; his pace was even and steady. Hiyoshi, on the other hand, lagged behind considerably, and Syaoran was tempted to say something, but decided against it. It was no wonder that Hiyoshi was tired; he, unlike Syaoran and their guide, was not used to this kind of exertion and he could not keep his breathing calm, thus making his lungs take in too much or too little oxygen.

The wind picked up and blinded Syaoran's vision momentarily. Ahead of him, he heard their guide's voice.

"I can see my hut! Just a little bit further."

This prompted Syaoran and Hiyoshi to speed up, stomping through the snow as fast as their feet would allow them. When they reached their destination, their guide shuffled them in, placing them in front of a small fire. He picked up logs and threw them onto the fire, making the flames lick the wood eagerly.

"Not to worry, lads," he said, "It'll be warm in here in no time."

He did not take his blue eyes off them however, looking at them with an unusual air of awe. "You're them, aren't you?" he sat down in front on the floor, looking at them like a child waiting for a story. "You have come to save my world, right?"

He did not wait for their answer, instead jumping straight up and grabbing Hiyoshi in a tight hug. This sudden movement, the look on his face one of horror, took Hiyoshi back. He quickly put his hands on the guide's shoulders and gave him a push back.

The guide took no notice of Hiyoshi's rudeness, too happy to care. He took a step back and bowed low to the teens. Then he straightened his back, making himself seem as tall as he possibly could, and opened his arms.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my good sirs," he said, "I am Sir Arutha Langdon Ragnar Magne, of the late Kingdom of Havvar, crowned prince and last surviving member of the royal family, and your most humble servant." With this he made another low bow. "And what are the names of my young saviors?"

Hiyoshi glanced at Syaoran. "I am Bohdan Hiyoshi and this is Li Syaoran." Hiyoshi said.

Arutha's brow dipped. "Your names are Li and Bohdan? How odd."

Hiyoshi shook his head, somewhat annoyed to explain to this simpleton. "No, those are our last names."

"Ah," said Arutha, nodding his head. "In this country, it is custumary to say the first name, then middle, then your father's name, then surname. What, then, shall I call you sirs?"

Hiyoshi opened his mouth to respond, but Syaoran beat him to it. "It doesn't matter right now! What I want to know is, what is going on here?"

Arutha sighed. "The guardian told you nothing, then? Well, I might as well get some food for you to eat, I'll be talking for a while." He got up and went to the back of the room, gathering items from off the walls and a hidden storage area.

While Arutha was busy, Syaoran looked around the hut. There were only two rooms, both very small. Animal skins hung draped over the walls and windows, making the room seem only smaller. There was a bed, a chest, and two chairs in one corner, along with a few large (and hopefully warm) blankets.

Syaoran got up and walked around the hut, not bothering to ask permission. He walked into the other room. It was just as bare as the first one, only with a table in it. The table had been pushed to the side of the room and in its place was a large tub. On the other side of the room in a well-organized display stood a sword, arrows, a large bag, rope, and other oddities.

_'So he is a fighter.'_ Syaoran thought as the picked up on of the knives, picking at its blade with his fingers. "What is the tub for?" he asked when he walked back into the room.

Arutha looked up from his cooking. "That's for me. While you two eat, I make myself presentable." He then handed them their food and went into the other room.

Hiyoshi began to eat as soon as he was handed the food. Syaoran poked at the meal, finding his stomach strangely empty.

"He will be back in ten minutes." Hiyoshi said suddenly.

Syaoran looked up at him with a hawk's eye. "How do you know that?"

Hiyoshi did not return Syaoran's glaze, only looking down at his food as though it was interesting. "I just do." he said, his tone of voice telling Syoaran it was useless to ask anything else.

The conversation turned to silence after that, only the sounds of splashing water coming from the second room. It was a tense, uncomfortable silence in Syaoran's opinion. The words of Messenger hung over his head like a cloud; a weight hung in his chest. They repeated themselves over and over in his head, no matter how much Syaoran pushed them away.

He could not think straight. Though he had a clear goal in his mind, destory the portal, there was too much that had gone unanswered in his conversation with Messenger. There was a nagging thought at the edge of his mind, a thought that told him something was wrong. But what?

He was ripped out of his musings when Prince Arutha emerged from the second room. Not covered in dust and debris anymore, Syaoran got his first good look at the prince. As it turned out, Arutha was not the boy Syaoran thought him of earlier, but a man of his early twenties.

He was by no means a handsome man, yet Syaoran would not have placed him as ugly either. Arutha could have passed for almost anyone; from a workman, all the way to a spoiled noble's son. Syaoran just realized this was most likely another reason why Messenger had chosen the price to accompany him on the mission. It seemed to him that Arutha could place himself among any company and fit in; he did not have any features that could truly set him apart from others.

Arutha was not tall, only a little bit above Syaoran had a small build and an expression of too much use, as though he were spread too thin. On top of Arutha's head was a mop of brown curly hair outlining his thin face. High cheekbones and blue eyes accompanied his brown hair, which went down to a long, pale neck. He looked almost like a dear, with his large eyes.

Yet Syaoran could not take his eyes off Arutha the moment the prince entered the room. His composure, the bounce of his step, and the graceful way he moved demanded a certain amount of attention and respect - as though the bath and being at home had invigorated him. He stood up straight, never slouching, and his arms lay relaxed at his sides. Arutha radiated power to a point were Syaoran wondered if he had been born with it.

This was the future King.

* * *

Arutha sat down on a chair covered in an animal hyde, reaching for the plate of food. 

"So what did the guardian tell you?" he asked.

"We must destroy a demon portal to this world." Syaoran said, "But something else is going on, isn't there? That's why we could not talk while we were running here, right?"

Arutha nodded his head. "Yes." He looked from Syaoran to Hiyoshi before he continued. "Better make yourselves comfortable, it will take time to explain." Syaoran settled himself on the cot while Hiyoshi sat next to him on a wooden chair.

"This all started years back, when I was but a lad in the palace. My father, King Ragnar Magne, was ruler of the country bordering the sea, and because of our natural borders, we were rarely troubled by outside forces. However, around ten summers back, an unknown enemy besieged the neighboring kingdoms. It was in due time that my father learned of a plan to attack the capital."

"Thousands upon thousands of black creatures showed up, and within days the castle was taken. I was sent away to across the river to a fortress and from there taken deep into the country. Sadly, my family was not able to escape as quickly as I was and was taken over before they manage to reach the boat."

"It was later that we learned that the black creatures were things we call _'Svartr Alfr'_." Arutha said, rolling his' rs.

"What?" interrupted Hiyoshi.

"In the ancient language of my people, Black Elf. They are cousins of the elves, only they have a dark blue tone to their skin while a true blood elf has anywhere from fair skin to dark brown. Black Elves were banned from the continent of man generations ago, for they are Dark Creatures. They live for nothing, only thriving on battles and blood. They take everything from the land, and give nothing back! No sense of duty or honor." Arutha spat out this last sentence, his voice becoming angry as he talked.

"A new country emerged after my father died. A place where all Dark Creatures dwell, waiting until they would have enough numbers to take over this world. Sumarr, is what they call it. A place of fire and ash, of murder and vengeance." Arutha's eyes drifted off to some spot on the wall, deep in memory. His food lay forgotten on the table, the heat slowly evaporating into the air.

He continued, his voice heavy and slow, "For ten years, they have waged war on mankind." Arutha paused once more and bore his blue eyes into Syaoran's. "Ten years of battle and bloodshed. They have numbers now, and my people, mankind, is slowly being wiped out. Unless something can stop them, we won't survive more than a few years."

Syaoran sat quietly. This did explain the quietness of the forest and Arutha needing to get them all to safety. Yet what did it have to do with the portal? He asked Arutha this.

"If there is anything I know about Black Elves, is that they are good fighters, but they are lazy and unorganized. Someone, or something, must have somehow managed to gather all of them up into one group. Now, bands of a dozen or two dozen elves can make enough damage all by themselves, but thousands? Who on Earth could have had the power to do that?"

Syaoran still did not understand. What did one have to do with the other? His only goal was the portal, and the Black Elves were only a mere complication. A difficult complication, but nothing that could not be dealt with if given time.

"That is when the guardian came to me," continued Arutha, "The guardian said a demon portal had been opened on this world, around ten years ago!"

Suddenly, it clicked. "You think that a demon slipped through the portal and gathered up the Dark Creatures." Syaoran said, piecing everything together.

"Right!" Arutha said, "And now you, my saviors, have come to correct everything!" He jumped up into the air again, his excitement barely contained. "No more war, no more starvation, no more Dark Creatures! My heroes have come!"

There was something in the prince's over joyous voice that set Syaoran on his awareness. Something that had a deeper and darker tone to it. He pushed aside the thought quickly, decided it would not help to bring it up now, not when he knew so little.

Hiyoshi seemed to be in no talkative mood. His eyes were shut tightly and his arms crossed in front of his chest. Syaoran could feel a bit of magical energy seeping through the cracks in Hiyoshi's defense. Though he could not feel the full force of the boy's magic, the energy that escaped Hiyoshi made Syaoran wonder what he was doing. Syaoran could feel Hiyoshi's aura was stronger than before, and he knew that the tall boy was using magic. As to what type of magic, he was unsure, and turned his attention to the prince.

"So what do you want us to do?" Syaoran said, trying to keep his voice calm and level.

Arutha looked up. "What do you mean?"

"How are we going to destroy the portal?" he asked, seeing Arutha's confused expression. The magic energy coming from Hiyoshi stopped and he opened his eyes, glancing from Syaoran to Arutha.

Even before Arutha opened his mouth, Syaoran knew what he was going to say.

"I don't know, young sir,... I don't know."

The rest of the night was sadly uninformative and Syaoran and Hiyoshi were not able to keep their eyes open for much longer. Arutha laid out blankets and furs for the boys, who were too tired to care what they were sleeping on. Within seconds after putting his head down on a makeshift pillow, Syaoran was asleep.

* * *

The next morning Syaoran woke once more to an unfamiliar ceiling. His muscles tensed up under the blankets before the events of the other day abruptly reminded him where he was. A dull throbbing pain pounded in his head. 

He lay there for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of nature. Had it been one week or two since he was taken from his training ground in the jungles of China? Syaoran wished he knew. At this point, it really made no difference where he was a few weeks ago before Messenger took over his body, he was on a totally different planet altogether and that was all that mattered, yet he still wanted to know.

It was a sense of possession and pride, he figured. Messenger took over his body, and he did not know what the guardian did with it, or how long he had it. Since Syaoran could not remember how far into training he was, he did not know whether Messenger had his body for one week, for two, or more. Since Syaoran had succumbed so quickly to Messenger, his pride had been terribly wounded. At least if he knew how long the stupid alien had it, it might repair some of the damage.

_'I may never find out'_ Syaoran thought as he watched Arutha come into the room from the outside. A blast of cold air steamed into the room, plowing over Syaoran and Hiyoshi. Syaoran shivered, clutching the blanket closer to his body.

"Good morning, young sirs!" Arutha's cheery voice greeted. "We best get a move on if we want to make good time today." He said on his way into the second room.

Sighing, Syaoran got up from the bed and followed the prince, still holding the blanket close to him. He tripped over Hiyoshi's long legs, who had not moved an inch. Hiyoshi yawned and pulled his arms above his head, stretching, then rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

The second room had changed since last night. Where there had stood a large tub, now sat a table, covered to the edges with some of the things Syaoran observed the night before. Among the knives and other weapons, there were large masses of green cloth and chain mail.

"Come on, sir," Arutha motioned with his hand to a pile of things, grabbing the top of the pile and shoving it into Syaoran's arms. "These were mine a year or two back, so I believe they will fit you."

Syaoran looked at the material. It was a thin, soft shirt with long sleeves. It was very plain, with two strings at the open neck of the shirt. Syaoran looked at the other things he had to wear and grimaced; besides the shirt and a pair of pants, it looked as though nothing else would be comfortable.

"I shall wake the other sir." Arutha said, not having noticed Syaoran pained expression. "You should change now. We need to catch breakfast." He left the room with the same bounce he had walked in with.

Syaoran gritted his teeth and began to undress himself, shivering as his feet touched the cold, dirt floor.

* * *

"I feel like an idiot." Hiyoshi grumbled. "Isn't there anything else you could have found?" 

"No. A man your size is not too common around here, so I had to make do." Arutha replied, not looking back.

Hiyoshi was once again a man of style and fashion. Only the style and fashion happened to be very, very old. Syaoran grinned at Hiyoshi, whose eyes shot draggers back at him.

Hiyoshi was fitted with a long black robe with a large leather belt. The robe seemed much more like a dress than a robe, Syaoran thought. It had long sleeves that went far past the tips of Hiyoshi's fingertips. The shoulders were padded, making Hiyoshi seem like an American football star. To top it off, a black and red hat with feathers protruding out of it at an odd angle was added as a "finishing touch." In all, Hiyoshi looked like an idiot.

"Besides," Arutha continued, "Ladies consider this kind of clothing the height of present gentlemanly fashion."

Syaoran tried to suppress his smile, but no luck. It was now close to midday and the sun was out. Despite the cold air, he was surprisingly warm, probably due to walking at such a steady pace for the past hour.

Now it was Syaoran who was dragging behind. Though he did not look as ridiculous as Hiyoshi, the price he paid for fashion was comfort. Besides the undergarments and shirts he wore, the rest was stiff and itchy. The riding boots he wore were worn but thankfully easy to move his feet in. He had on terrible pants and a jacket reeking of horse.

The worst was the bit of chain mail he wore; it was heavy and dragged him down, plus his movement was very limited. "Not to worry, young sir," Arutha had said when Syaoran showed him, "You will be able to move about soon enough. It'll only take a while, then you'll be quick as a flash!"

"When we get to the town, what are we going to do?" Hiyoshi asked.

"There is an old drunk who owns the local tavern. His name is Grimalf, though he can't remember it half the time, so we all call him 'Alf'." Arutha said. "From there, we'll be able to get a some supplies and, with some luck, horses."

"Does that mean you know how we are going to destroy the portal?" Syaoran asked.

"No, I'm still working on that." Arutha turned around. "And you best not mention that until we are out of this woods and on our way from this place."

"Why?"

"There are Dark Creatures all around." On that gloomy note, the trio went the rest of the way to village in silence.

They found the tavern easily enough; it was one of only four large houses in the village. Syaoran found himself very disappointed with the inside of the building. From a combination of reading and his own imagination, Syaoran had imagined a tavern to be filled with loud noisy men all drinking ale, knights and women, and lots of music.

What he got was one man laying in a corner, passed out, and a large man at the front of the main, wiping a table. The man was very short and fat, with double chins that wobbled when he talked.

"Aye! Look who we have 'er." the man bawled, his words slurred. "If it ain't ol' Arutha. Get out! Haven't you caused a poor ol' man enough trouble?"

Arutha strutted in, waving a bag in front of the man's ugly face. "Good morning, Alf! I have a deal to make with you!"

Alf's biddy eyes widened and he shook his head violently, sending the chins to wobble so much it looked as though they were going to take flight. "Last time I made a deal with the likes of you, I had two Svartr Alfrs come n' knockin' at meh door!"

"Those were two pirates who wore black clothing, and you know it. Also, no one got badly hurt in that fight, now did they?" The man seemed unconvinced, his chins wobbling again. "I know you don't like me much Alf, but I have one last favor for you to do for me. I am leaving town."

At this Alf's eyes narrowed and he stared at Arutha for a minute. "What yer mean, 'leaving town'?"

"I am heading south to warmer climate." Arutha said. "We need food for four days and three horses."

Alf's large jaw dropped; a string of drool dangled from one yellow tooth. "Horses! Yer want horses!" he roared, shaking his head again. "I'll be a fool to give yer horses, aye, that's what I'll be!" He puffed his chest up and waddled over to the counter.

"Now, Alf," Arutha said, his voice dripping with amusement, "I have not been so bad, now have I? I've paid you quiet well for all your wonderful services. Very well," Arutha waved the bag once more in the man's face.

Alf's eyes followed the bag's moment as his face scrunched up in concentration. It was a hard decision, whether or not to help Arutha. Arutha was a pain in the neck and Alf would be glad to get rid of him. The man caused more trouble than he was worth, so helping Arutha get out of the village would make him very happy. No more pirates, for one.

He first met the lad a few years ago, helping him smuggle things up the coast. Though it had been harmless at the time, Arutha's schemes had grown increasingly dangerous and caused a bit of trouble for the man. Yet Arutha somehow always managed to pay what he owned. How he got ahold of such large sums of gold, Alf never bothered to ask.

Very slowly, Alf nodded his head. "Alright. I'll help yer and the-" he looked at Syaoran and Hiyoshi for the first time, "-laddies."

Arutha smiled. "Oh, you are a good, dear man, Alf. I shall never forget you!"

"Quit yer' shoutin'! Yeh'll wake the dead with that noise! Now get out, before I chase yer out!"

Arutha bowed his head low and turned on his heel out the door. "Have everything ready by dusk tonight. Good day, Alf"

* * *

Syaoran found it hard to believe it was almost four hours after the sun had gone down. Tonight there were three moons, all at different points in the sky. Yet the way it looked, you would have thought that it was early morning. He would have to ask Arutha about the moons later. 

"Do you know how to use a sword, young sir?"Interupted someone.

This question Arutha directed at Syaoran while he whipped a sword in circles above his head and around his body.

"Yeah." Syaoran said, without an ounce of pride in his voice. Since Syaoran had been instructed in the use of swords for years, he knew the weapon like it was his one of his own limbs. It was not a matter of pride that made Syaoran think he was a master when it came to swords, it was just the simple fact that he truly knew how to use a sword to the best of its abilities.

Arutha smiled as he watched the boy. "What about a bow and arrow?"

Syaoran stopped his exercise and looked at the table. "No." he said and turned around to Hiyoshi. "You have good eyes, do you know how to use them?"

Hiyoshi narrowed his eyes at Syaoran's chose of words, unresponsive. He picked up the bow, running his hands up and down the handle. "I think I might be able to." He finally growled.

"Why don't I show you?" asked Arutha, slinging the bag of arrows of his shoulder, "Syaoran sir, I'll take our tall friend here and show him the finer points of archery. Would you watch the horses?"

They had gotten three horses from the barman Alf just over two hours ago. Alf seemed thrilled as he watched Arutha climb on top of the mound, so much so that he hobbled around in circles, which Syaoran learned to mean he was dancing.

With the horses, they walked back to the hut and, with Arutha's instructions, began packing. Arutha had been very secretive and said that once they were far enough away; they would be free to talk about what their mission.

Syaoran's eye twitched when he heard his first name being used so freely, and with a bad accent. Since Arutha did not like the names Li and Bohdan, he had taken up using their first names. Syaoran figured it would be pointless to try and explain the reasons why he hated when people used his first name without his permission, thus allowed Arutha to do so.

"Sure." he said.

Syaoran continued to pack his bag; stuffing in as many warm clothes as could fit him. Though Arutha had told the barman they were heading to warmer climate, Syaoran suspected otherwise. From the look and feel of the heavy clothes, he knew he was right.

Hiyoshi and Arutha came back an hour later, Arutha grinning.

"You were right, Syaoran." He pointed toward Hiyoshi as the tall boy threw himself down on his small bed, "He does have good eyes. Best I have seen, heck, maybe as good as the elves!" He was still grinning when he went back into the second room to go to sleep.

Syaoran smirked at Hiyoshi, "I knew it. That's how you see in the future, isn't it?"

Hiyoshi looked at him, then nodded his head slowly.

"How does it work?" Syaoran asked.

Hiyoshi shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know. When I close my eyes, if I concentrate, I get images and sounds of the future. Sometimes it just comes to me."

"How far can you see?"

Again, Hiyoshi shrugged his shoulders. "Now-a-days, I can barely see ten minutes into the future."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Hiyoshi said. "I guess, when there is a routine, it is easy and predictable. Now though, there is no routine so it will take me awhile to adjust." Hiyoshi said nothing else, the tone in his voice telling Syoran that the subject was over.

Syaoran nodded his head and rolled over onto his own bedding.

Again, he found doubt in his companions. Arutha was somewhat confusing to decipher. He had a good nature and an obvious skill in weapons, yet how he truly felt about the mission he kept very well hidden. Hiyoshi could not see to far into the future, which Syaoran felt was something they were going to need when the time came.

As for himself, he felt nothing but dread. The one thing no one in his group knew was that he was having difficulty in his magic. His spells were very effective and better than ever before, yet they left his body drained of all energy.

How was he supposed to destroy the portal when he could not case more than one or two simple spells?The dull throbbing pain from the morning returned. Before any more doubt plagued his mind, Syaoran close his eyes and fell into a troubled sleep.

* * *

Author's note:Not to worry, people, Sakura will be back in the next chapter. Please review. Constructive criticism is always welcome (andalways needed) flames not. 

Author's note2: Please note that there will be some changes in the summery of the story. I feel that the current summery it has is not up to its standers and thus will be changed. Please mark this story. The name will not be changed; just the summery. Thank you.


	8. Ch8 Jolly Start

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters. However, any news ones have come from my own mind. 

Author's note: Thank you for the reviews. They lift my spirit and encourage me to continue.

* * *

Sweet odors of meat and bread drifted up Syaoran nose, causing a smile to appear on his face. He rolled over, not opening his eyes. He was warm, nice and warm, wrapped up in a small cocoon of blankets. 

_'Sakura is up...'_ he thought and opened his eyes, than cursed himself for doing so.

It was not Sakura. In fact, he was nowhere near her. In front of his eyes was the disappointing image of a large foot. Syaoran lifted his head up, raising his shoulders as he did so, and saw Hiyoshi, sprawled out on the bed. Hiyoshi's mouth was opened slightly, soft sounds of snoring coming from it.

Syaoran looked around the room, and sighed. _'No, this is definitely not Japan'_, he thought, feeling an immense longing for something, or someone, familiar. _'No Sakura, either.'_ This thought only caused him to become more depressed, much to a point that Syaoran sank back into the covers, sighing.

_'Damn Messenger._' he thought, cursing the moment he ever met Messenger. So far, the stupid guardian had been nothing but trouble. It was not fair, that it had taken Syaoran from the one person whom he wanted to be with. What did this world have to do with Syaoran, anyways? Why did he, of all people, have to save it? What was in it for him?

As soon as those thoughts crossed his mind, Syaoran felt a choking shame. How could he think those things when a planet depended on him? How dare he think of those things! _'I am a coward,'_ he thought, and sank deeper into the blankets, _'I have a job to do, and feeling sorry for myself is not going to help anything.'_ With those words, he pulled the covers off himself and got up.

The air around him was chilly, as it was the day before, and Syaoran quickly hopped around to find his pants and shirt. Once he found them, and dressed, he tiptoed out of the room to the second room. On the table today where three plates, two of them filled with something that resembled a piece of bread and a slab of meat. The third plate only had crumbs on it, evidence that someone was already up.

Syaoran looked at the food and, though his stomach was crying for a meal, decided to look for the prince. Outside there was still one moon in the sky, making it easy for Syaoran to find Arutha. Arutha was by the horse, petting and muttering reassuring phrases.

"When are we leaving?" Syaoran asked, his teeth chattering.

"Before the sun rises, so we best get Sir Hiyoshi up," Arutha turned around and looked at the shivering boy. "Goodness, what are you doing without a coat? Get inside, I'll be done here soon."

Syaoran did not protest and followed the prince's instructions. When he went back inside of the hut, Hiyoshi was at the table, wolfing down his breakfast. Syaoran went down to sit at the table when he remembered the prince's words.

"How did you get up so quickly? Arutha-san just said-"

"That's the problem with being a seer," interrupted Hiyoshi, not looking at Syaoran, "You get visions, even if you aren't looking for them."

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Syaoran said nothing more, feeling as though none of them were awake enough to make any sort of conversation until later in the day. He had guessed right, for when Arutha walked back into the room, he merely nodded at them and said a simple, "Morning lads. Horses are ready."

They said nothing else to each other until they were out the door of the hut and climbing onto of the horses. Syaoran was once again in his itchy, smelly clothes and heavy chain mail. He sighed, watching his breath steam out and disappear, and, for the first time, was grateful that the clothes he wore were at the very least warm.

Another thing he found himself surprisingly happy for was the horse. Not one very fond of the animals, he was glad that he was not going to have to walk much with the chain mail dragging down his every move. Hiyoshi had no trouble jumping up onto the horse into the saddle, his height helping him a lot, and looked at Arutha and Syaoran. Arutha imitated his move with the skill of a master. Syaoran was sadly not as lucky.

He hopped up once and slipped. He tried again, and failed. Getting frustrated, he tried once more, but was not able to get his leg over the horse to the other side as Hiyoshi and Arutha had done. Under Hiyoshi's watchful eyes, Syaoran felt himself flush from anger and humiliation. He cast his face away from his companions, hoping he would not betray his emotions.

"Here, Syaoran let me help." Arutha said, riding up next to Syaoran's horse and extending his hand down.

Syaoran glared at the hand. _Help?_ He would not have it. Keeping his bangs over his eyes, Syaoran did not bother anymore with trying to jump up like a normal human, opting instead to use his magic. He bent his legs and sprung up, a few feet above the horse, than glided down softly on the saddle.

"Show off." Hiyoshi muttered under his breath. Now that Syaoran was ready, Arutha kicked his heels into the horse, speeding off into a trot. Syaoran followed behind him, Hiyoshi behind him. As the small hut began to disappear behind them, each silently said their own thanks to the small haven of safety. The clouds were gray, unwelcoming, almost a foreboding of what was to come on their journey.

Snow began to fall as the morning went by, and the three companions busied themselves by quizzing Arutha over the land and territory. After today's horse episode, Syaoran wanted to make sure he was better prepared for whatever came their way.

"Well," Arutha said, "We are going to cut north through the woods to a city named Durin. There we will be able to find out the latest of what is going on about the war, and a few of my friends." he grinned at Syaoran, the skin by the corners of his eyes wrinkled.

"What is the city of Durin like?" asked Syaoran.

"Oh, well," Arutha eyes squinted for a moment, "-for one thing, Durin is a port city, which opens up to the sea. It has the biggest harbor of the Free Territories-"

"What are the Free Territories?"

"They are the lands along the coast and some islands which no country has claimed, and quit asking questions, or else I never be able to tell you anything!" Arutha said, trying to sound tough, but his grin slipped through after a moment.

Syaoran bit his tongue as he listened to Arutha. "Now than, where was I? Ah, yes, Durin! Durin is one of the biggest cities in the north, which is a surprising thing in itself considering it is so close to Sumarr. Since Durin is a part of the land that no one wants, it is overrun with smugglers and slave traders. But if you know which parts of the city to avoid, it is an amazing place of trade and merchants, of wine and women."

"If Durin is so close to Sumarr, why has it not been seized by Dark Creatures?" Syaoran had the words out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Have you not been listening to my words, Sir Syaoran? The Free Territories is a place no better than Sumarr when it comes to land. Snows much of the year around. And even if you do get farmland, you would not be able to plant anything on it, for all there is only rock and foul grass. No good soil."

"But there is a positive side to the Free Territories, is that it is a major trading center. Since the Free Territories are not owned by anyone, everyone comes there and there no one can shut anyone else out. So many people that have been exiled come to Durin, place of second chances!" Arutha threw his hands up into the air and let out a raspy laugh.

"So we are going to a city devoted entirely to criminals!" Hiyoshi exclaimed, disbelief evident in his shaking voice.

Arutha looked back at him and grinned again, his eyes sparkling. "Now I did not say that, did I, Sir Hiyoshi? I merely mentioned the fact that Durin has many questionable people. They are quiet lovely people if you know their language, and wonderfully loyal at times."

Syaoran could not help but feel doubtful again about the mission. The prince's past was beyond questionable as far as he was concerned, and Syaoran wondered what type of friends the prince was talking so fondly about. Where they criminals? If so, how where they loyal?

So far the mission was a complete waste, Syaoran thought with a grunt. What were they exactly doing?  
Ah, yes, searching around for a demon portal that has been opened somewhere on this planet, while trying not to get anyone killed in the process. How where they going to try and find the portal? By going to a city that is run by criminals, lived in by criminals, and was built upon by criminals and look around for clues.

They were small mice running headfirst into a lion's pen. Syaoran could still feel the mission's weight in his chest, heavy as the chain mail he worn, yet thousand times worse.

* * *

Sakura stared out of the window, blowing a strand of stray hair out of her face. 

_'Good morning,_' a soft voice said inside of her head. Sakura looked up and towards the door. Messenger stomped into her room. _'That is what humans on Earth say, is it not?'_ it asked.

Sakura smiled, pleased to see someone she knew. "Yea, it is."

The centaur made no motion it heard her, then again, it never did. Messenger balanced a tray with its long fingers and walked over to where Sakura was sitting. It set down the tray and backed away from her, bowing its large head.

"Are you coming back?" Sakura asked, reaching for the food on the tray.

_'Yes,'_ Messenger replied, not slowing down its pace toward the door. _'I have a few duties to accomplish, then I shall return.'_ It left without waiting for another word from Sakura.

Sakura sighed and looked out the window again.

Below her was a world of unknown, and somewhere, a mile or two down, was Syaoran, Hiyoshi, and some other person who Sakura did not know the name of. She was up in a castle of clouds, quiet literally.

From what she saw out of the window, she was very high in the sky, for clouds floated sluggishly along below her. Yet she could breath fine from this height, which confirmed her suspension that this place was magical. The castle was made of clouds; at least, the outside of the castle was made from clouds. Sakura doubted that anyone else on the world below her knew this place existed.

She had woken up three days ago in the same room that she was in now. In fact, Sakura had not been allowed to go anywhere but her room. The room was more like a suite than a true room. It was many times the size of her own bedroom in Japan and had the luxuries of a royal family with it.

When she first woke up, she had woken up to a freighting unfamiliar ceiling. She had scrambled out of the bed she laid in and almost ran into a large half horse-half man creature. It had not been a pleasant welcoming. In her heightened state fear and fright, Sakura had tried to use her powers against the blue creature. Luckily, she had been stopped when an image of Syaoran appeared in her mind.

It had taken a few more images, which Sakura later learned were memories, to calm her down to a point where the creature could explain things (though Sakura thought it had done a terrible job of it.) The creature, a guardian of the world below her, told her that she a to be held in this room until the time when she must fight a demon.

Sakura remembered she had laughed at first, out of fright or the out of the insanity of everything or both, but had stopped after the realization of her situation dawned on her. The guardian, who introduced itself as Messenger, was a terribly odd and somewhat cold ...thing.

This, apparently, was the creature that was searching for her on Earth. This, she thought with a note of bitterness, was also her captor. Though Messenger meant her no harm, she could not avoid the matter that she was technically kidnapped. After all, Messenger took her without any regard to her thoughts and feelings over whatever she was supposed to do.

Messenger, itself, was the strangest of the mess she got put in. The guardian was the only thing that came to see her in her lonely days, normally when it was bringing food. Sometimes its' visits were short, merely a 'hello' and putting the a tray filled with food on the table by her bed, other times it would come to observe her, which at first made her nervous to no end, and other times it would stand and talk with her. (Sakura later found out it did not know how to sit, having never had a physical body like a centaur before.)

During their discussions (there had been six so far, the longest one stretching six hours) Sakura learned many things about her alien companion and the world below her.

The world below her was coming to a major turning point, one that Syaoran, Hiyoshi, and the other man was supposed to help with. With their help, the world would have a chance at surviving, and the nations that would evolve would eventually come to peace with each other. However, this was only one possibility out of many, and if something went 'wrong' than adjustments would be made.

Sakura's curiosity was sparked by Messenger's odd choice of words, and urged it to continue. The guardian was too smart for her though, and answered all of her questions with an irritating _'You shall know when the time comes.'_ She never got anything more out of Messenger and had to drop the subject.

Messenger came back into the room one hour later. _'Today is the day,'_ Sakura thought, _'today is the day that Messenger will answer all of my questions about Syaoran.'_

Since day one, Sakura had pressed Messenger to tell her about Syaoran and the others. It never replied, so when Messenger came into the room, Sakura's determination swept her up again, and though she knew the answer, she asked again, "When will I see Syaoran and Hiyoshi again? What are they doing on that planet?"

_'You shall know when the time comes.'_ Messenger said.

"And when would that be?" she had asked, determined not to let Messenger go without answers.

_'When your other is done with his mission,_' it said.

Though Messenger could not display any emotions about what it just said, Sakura had the look of someone who had been run over and shocked back to life.

"WHAT!" She exclaimed, jumping up from the chair she was sitting on. "What do you mean, my other?"Sakura let herself believe that she had not heard Messenger, though deep down she knew it was impossible for its' soft voice could not be ignored in her mind.

_'Other and One are the same thing, only using different sounds. Renewed Human used the term One.'_ it replied, using the nickname it had for Eriol.

A small silence passed, Sakura listening to nothing but her breathing, which had speed up considerably. The green aura in her swam around, giving off its warm waves. It was frustration, annoying her to no end with its mystery of who it was. Now she had the key to unlock the mystery and end her suffering once and for all.

She opened her mouth, than paused, feeling the aura give off more warmth. Suddenly, she knew. She knew the answer to the aura. Yet she for the life of her she could not say it. Sakura felt cold, despite the warmth, for there was a cloud of dark and ugly doubt hanging over her head, over her heart. There was still that question, a far off and distant, one asked by a caring friend so long ago.

_'What if the person you love today is not who you were meant to be with?'_

It was either Syaoran or Hiyoshi, Syaoran or Hiyoshi. They were both there when Messenger first showed up at the theator, and either one could be her One.

As much as Sakura wanted it to be the person she thought it was, there was always that possibility. Could she handle it if that was the outcome? She did not know. She did not want to think about that. _'I am weak,'_ she thought, biting her lip. _'Messenger knows who it is. It can tell me and end this. So why can't I say anything?'_

She cursed, biting her lip more. _'But what if I am wrong? What if, what if, what if!'_ She pressed the tips of her fingers into her temple, cradling her head. _'Be Quiet, Sakura,'_ a voice inside her head said, sounding oddly like Syaoran. _'Ask yourself what will happen if you don't know. You are a doomed person, Sakura. Doomed forever. No one will ever, ever make you truly happy, or your other. Do you want to condemn someone else to the same fate just because you are scared?'_

Messenger waited patiently, watching the conflict in Sakura's eyes with fascination. The girl was about to say something, it was sure of it. Messenger had no problem waiting for Sakura to finish whatever she was going through. Silence was always welcomed, and it knew that what she choosing her words carefully. Choosing words carefully (however much Messenger did not like words) was a trait that Messenger admired and respected. In doing so the human girl had gained in status, in its' opinion at least.

Sakura was bleeding now, from biting her lip so hard unconsciously. Messenger watch the drop of blood with only more fascination as it skate down her lip, onto her chin, where it remained. The girl did not notice the blood and Messenger was overcome with a powerful desire to enter her mind, however fragile it was at the moment. The desire turned into a pounding, inescapable need as Messenger watched her for another minute, and it inched forward toward her.

Entering someone's mind was a born skill Messenger had. As long as the object did not notice its' presence, the guardian could easily enter someone's mind, trap them, and control the body. It was difficult with people who had magical abilities for they already had acute hearing and vision, not to mention other hereditary traits they might posses. However, with surprise and quickness, they could be overcome using little energy.

Once the person is locked within their own minds, Messenger is free to uncover any memories or emotions the person has. The emotions and thoughts of the people are the most interesting to Messenger, since it can't understand emotions, and must use the person's thoughts to decipher emotions. Itwas only enjoyable when Messenger takes over a person that it admired, which was hardly ever.

Of late, there were many interesting people Messenger had the pleasure of taking over. Renewed Human, the Seer, the Prince, and Simple Human. Sadly, all of them had some magical power, three of them even more powerful than Messenger itself, and Messenger could not examine their minds to the extent of which it wanted to, thus having to leave their minds before they drained it of its powers.

There was a major downside to opening one's mind for pleasure, was that Messenger was also in charge of the body. Since it was born without a physical body, it did not know the function of some of the limbs and confused them time-to-time, causing the body to respond in odd ways. Most of the time Messenger could control the legs and arms with ease, yet when it came to things like fingers, toes, and blinking, it did not bother with such silly things. (Nothing needed some many bones, anyways, Messenger believed)

Messenger stopped inching forward when Sakura looked up at it. She noticed the blood on her chin and wiped it away with the back of her hand, not break eye contract with the guardian. It seemed she had come to a conclusion of her thoughts.

"I want to know, Messenger," Sakura whispered, the emotion inside of her ready to burst, causing a pain in her chest. "I want to know who my One is."

_'It is...'_

To be continued...

Author's note: Please review. Constructive criticism always welcomed (and always needed) flames not.


	9. Ch9 Turning Point

Disclaimer: Come on people. If I did own this, why am I writing here? 

Author's note: Best food and drink that goes with this chapter: a subway sandwich and root beer. Enjoy.

* * *

Syaoran opened his eyes to a gray sky. The moons, stars, and sun were all hidden behind a tall wall of clouds, which seemed ready to burst with snow. Syaoran watched his breath float up and disappear into nothingness. Nature seemed slow this morning, for the songs of birds that normally accompanied them were gone, and the only sounds that Syaoran could hear were the occasional grunts of his companions. 

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Syaoran could see Arutha was up. He held in a groan; when Arutha woke up he and Hiyoshi would soon be woken from their slumber as well. So far the world offered nothing much other than a cold butt, Syaoran bitterly noted.

Though the smell of food over the nearby fire did call to him, Syaoran figured his immediate need for warmth greatly outweighed the former. Praying that Arutha did not see his eyes open, he snuggled back into his heated cocoon of blankets.

"Don't think I did not see you, Sir Syaoran." Arutha's raspy voice chirped. "You have horrible acting skills when it comes to the art of feigning sleep. Best get up."

Dang Arutha.

Syaoran did not retort. He stood up with a groan; sleeping two nights on uneven ground with numerous cuts and scratches from the past day took its toll on Syaoran's body, his aches ringing out in a symphony of pain. Syaoran took a mental note of where all the cuts were, hoping that this knowledge would somehow help him in avoiding more.

He stood up and hopped to the fire, greatly disappointed with its diminutive size. He would not dare ask if they could build a bigger one, fully aware of the danger of doing so without knowing who was nearby. As Arutha said, "Dark Creatures are all around."

A cold, whispering wind blew, chilling Syaoran's bones to a point where he was sure they were rattling. It took him a moment of looking into the bright yellow of the flames before he realized something - a soreness, a stiffness that alarmed him, made him more awake.

_'What am I doing? I don't need this fire, I have that aura inside of me!_' Feeling quite stupid, Syaoran closed his and called the pink aura. It came forth in an instant and automatically gave Syaoran want he wanted. The corner of his lips turned up as he felt the heat of the aura fill his body, traveling down to his numb toes, then all the way to the hair on the back of his neck.

For extra fun, he jumped around and ran in place until his heart beat speed up and plumped more blood through his viens.

Crack! Crack! Snap! He rolled his neck and shoulders, shook his legs out almost violently, and hopped onto the palms of his hand in a quick, walking handstand. Jumping back on his feet, he waited for his vision - dizzied by the sudden, early-morning activity - to clear.

_'Well, at least my body still behaves the same._' Syaoran thought, oddly pleased. His body's cracks and snaps were, was, at least, the reaction he expected from his body, no matter where he was- there, at least one constant in his all too shook-up life. It pleased him.

Snap!

'_...To a point'_ Syaoran noted at he swung his head side to side, listening to the cracks.

Years of martial arts and other rigorous sports had left a strong impact on the boy. Keeping himself flexible was not a loathed chore anymore, it was a necessity. If he neglected to stretch out pains and stress, his body reminded him in simple ways, such as it was doing now.

In all truth, his body was a terrible mess. Besides his bones popping and cracking when he moved them, there were numerous small fractions and breaks, scars and gashes. Bruises came in a variety of stunning colors, dotting his body all over.

There were small oddities in his arms and legs, if one cared to look for them. Syaoran glanced at his left wrist, rotating it slowly, listening to it snap every time he completed a circle. A few years back, when he was 11 or 12, he must have done something to it, yet he could not remember what.

It did not matter anymore anyways. His left wrist was slightly different from his right. It was angled differently and there was a piece of something, bone Syaoran assumed, that poked out occasionally through the skin. If he touched his wrist at a certain point, he could actually move the loose bones around.

"Dear Lord, that was you making all that noise!" a voice exclaimed, scattering Syaoran's thoughts into the wind.

He looked at Arutha, whose mouth was agape. "What in Havvan's name is the matter which your body, Sir Syaoran? It sounds like nothing is in the right place!"

Syaoran was taken back for a moment. He had not been trying to be so loud. _'I need to stretch more often,_' he noted.

Arutha waltzed over from his horse to Syaoran and lifted his arm. Syaoran pulled it back reflexively, but relaxed when he saw the prince was not going to do anything. He had been in one too many situations that required him to sit still while someone else toyed with him: usually to make a shoulder pop back in, or in one extreme situation, an elbow.

Arutha did nothing of the sort. His blue eyes studied Syaoran's arm, wrist, and hands like they were scrolls.

"What are you doing?" Syaoran asked, raising his eyebrows at the prince.

"Sir Syaoran, please excuse my directness, but how many broken bones do you have?"

Syaoran shrugged.

"You don't know?" Arutha gawked. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

Again, Syaoran shrugged. He did try to count, once, but at the age of 13 when he tried, almost everything distracted him and he never finished.

Arutha let out a raspy laugh, than told Syaoran to sit down. "Can't have you going about the country side in your condition."

"What are you going to do?"

"Ah, Sir Syaoran! Did the guardian not tell you of my little trick?" Syaoran shook his head.

"Well, it is extremely helpful. Not everyone has it, you know." Arutha gestured for Syaoran to lie down and stretch his arm out perpendicular to his body; he then set it so that it lay straight while Syaoran watched, his head canted sharply to the side. Arutha ran his hands to the middle of his forearm where a rude tree gave him a nasty cut for disturbing it. Syaoran felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as magic gathered.

"It is the art of healing." At this moment, bright red light emitted from Arutha's hands and Syaoran felt a tingling sensation running up his hands. The cut closed up and in seconds vanished in front of his eyes!

Syaoran looked at his forearm with the eye of a hawk, picking at the skin. It was almost as though he had never been hurt. He stared at the prince, eyes wide in amazement.

"You can use magic, too!" Syaoran exclaimed. While Syaoran could sense that Arutha had a tiny drop of magical power, his aura was so weak in general that Syaoran figured he could not gather the energy needed for spells.

"Surprised?" Arutha laughed. "Yes, I can. In fact, everyone here on this planet can."

This shocked Syaoran. "WHAT?"

Arutha nodded, amused by Syaoran's expression. "Yes. All humans, elves, and other beasts. The Dark Creatures, also."

Syaoran went from shock, to complete misery in less than two seconds. "Everyone here can use magic?" he said, his throat dry. The worst possible situations formed in Syaoran's mind. Magic was a wonderful, powerful, and deadly thing. To have everything and everyone in this world with that ability was almost certain death for this planet.

"Arutha-sama," Syaoran croaked, "If everyone here can use magic, how in Kami's name can I defeat-"

"Oh, you don't have to be upset about that!" Arutha said, noticing the worry in Syaoran's eyes. "Let me explain; while everyone here on this planet can use magic, all but a few crazy ones don't dare. Guess which one I am?" Arutha grinned, jerking his thumb toward his chest.

Now Syaoran was confused. "Why doesn't everyone-"

"What did I tell you about asking so many questions! Let me finish!" the prince glared at Syaoran, but still grinning. "Now then, while all people here can use magic, to do so on a regular basis is certain death. Only a few masters can become full time magicians, and those live a short life time."

"The reason is, is that a the core of every being is what we call the life source. This is where all magical energy comes from. In order to use magic, you take the amount needed from your life force, but at a cost, for the life source limited only to your natural life span. So each time you take energy from your life force, you lose a year or two of your life."

"That means, is that if you want to become a magician, you only live till age 30, if you're lucky, 35. Most people never aspire to become magicians, for to do so means certain death, and so, most people don't even want to learn how to take energy from their life source."

Syaoran nodded, soaking up the words. He glanced at his forearm, guilt crawling the walls of his stomach. _'I let Arutha heal me._' he thought. _'He shouldn't be doing that_.' Syaoran had so much power - none of which he'd asked for, it had been a gift at birth,- but he would not die of using it or learning to control it. Would he die here for using it? He was not sure whether to ask or not. And, if it did shorten his lifespan - and considering the immensity of his magical power - how long could he live in this world?

Again, Arutha seemed to know what was on Syaoran's mind as he saw the boy glance nervously from his arm to him. "Don't worry about that, Sir Syaoran. I can use a small bit of magic now and then. For fixing your arm, I'll only lose a few hours or days. Nothing big at all."

This statement did not help ease Syaoran's guilt, if anything, it made him feel worse. But his curiosity with the prince only grew.

"But you are not a magician. So how did you learn to use magic?"

"Some people have natural powers. Mine happens to be healing. My father recognized this when I was a boy and taught me to use my life source." Arutha replied, his eyes drifting off into space, deep in memory. "It is quite useful when you are in my profession. I can only fix minor breaks and pains, though. But that is more than enough sometimes."

Arutha patted Syaoran's shoulder and stood up. "Now that we have had our little chat, I shall wake-"

"I'm up already," a deep voice announced, startling the prince and Syaoran.

The prince looked at Syaoran for an answer. "He sees the future, that's all I know." Syaoran said.

* * *

The rest of the morning passed without much excitement. The trio did not talk while they rode their horses. All three had come to a silent agreement that no one would try and engage the other in any conversation until the sun was well into the sky and they were more awake, and in a much better mood. 

It was the second day since they left the hut. They were still in the woods, with no sign of anything else of miles.

"I need coffee." Hiyoshi stated when they paused by a river.

Syaoran did not even think once of coffee since he left Earth, but desperately craved some when Hiyoshi mentioned it. "Me, too," he sighed.

"What is 'caa-fee'?"

Syaoran and Hiyoshi exchanged raised eyebrows. Hiyoshi turned away and shook his head.

The next hour passed again in silence, nothing but the muffled sound of hooves crushing snow.

During this time, Syaoran turned his attention away from the mission, away from the man in front of him, away from everything about this planet and concentrated what he was thinking about before he went to sleep last night; Sakura.

Thinking about Sakura did calm him down greatly. He thought back on the week he lived in her home. It was a small week, but it cured him of most of his loneness. There was something very different about this visit, though. Sakura seemed more... well, clingy. Throughout the whole week, she would do odd things, like put her arm around his shoulders, or nudge his cheek with her hand.

Her actions generally confused him. He had never been one for hugs and other forms of emotion one normally gives. He was a protector. But when Sakura touched his arm, or his face, he felt more alone than ever before. A small part of him realized that he did not want to protect Sakura; he wanted her to protect him, to touch him, to hug him. He wanted her to put her arms around him in a full hug and hold him and kiss him and whatever else one could communicate through touch, and when she did not, he felt alone.

He had been a protector all his life, just like he was now, protecting a world from destruction. But what if he failed? Who would be there for him?

"Stop!" Hiyoshi's deep voice ordered.

Syaoran snapped out of his thoughts and pulled the reins on his horse. "What is it?"

Hiyoshi closed his eyes and Syaoran felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Hiyoshi gathered magic. He rocked on the horse for a moment. Then his eyes snapped open and whipped his head side to side.

"I saw something. Something is coming. And-" Hiyoshi said, a sudden panic in his voice.

"What did you see? Tell me!" Arutha demanded, turning his horse to face the seer.

Hiyoshi shook his head; his eyes wide and his voice shook as he answered. "I don't know! It looked really crazy! It was-it was-blue!"

Arutha cursed. "Dark Creatures. Why would they be so far out-" Arutha never finished his sentence before an arrow sailed through the air, embedding itself in a tree trunk right by the prince's head.

The whizzing of the arrow startled the horses, which cried out and stood up, almost throwing their masters off. Before any could react, they stomped their hooves into the snow and speed off in different directions.

"Syaoran!" Hiyoshi's panicked voice shrieked as Syaoran's horse tore away from his, "-a turning point-don't use-" Syaoran never heard the rest of Hiyoshi's warning as more two more arrows came blazing through the trees.

His horse was out of control, driving by fear. Syaoran grasped the reins and pulled sharply back. It did not matter, for the horse was now the master of its own moves. It paid no heed to Syaoran's desperate calls and clicks.

All Syaoran could do was hold on. Another arrow whizzed by and the horse stumbled over an uplifted tree branch, catapulting Syaoran into the air. He landed very unceremoniously in a pile of snow and broken tree branches. Syaoran jumped back up, releasing the guard on his aura.

_'I can't keep this up._' Syaoran thought. He knew that once he took off his guard on his aura, he was no longer hidden and anyone with enough magical energy could sense him.

He was like blood to sharks. All Syaoran could do now was pray his attackers were as weak as the prince presumed they were. In moments, his bait worked and Syaoran got his first look at a Dark Creature.

Two large, yellow eyes glared out at him from a small head, with a few hairs growing out of its scalp. Syaoran would have guessed he had the trademark ears, but they were bent at a horizontal angle out of its head with black tips, giving the impression of a burn victim.

Though the Dark Creature had a small build, all of it was pure muscle. His long arms and legs were nothing but muscle and bone. As if that was not enough, growing out of its fingers and toes were black knives of nails. It seemed as though every single part of this creature was designed for fighting, and killing.

The Dark Creature licked its purple lips, a glimpse of brown smudged teeth showing, as it eyed its prey. Then it did something that made Syaoran tense up even more; it smiled. It smiled at him, like it was having fun.

But this was not the greatest of Syaoran's worries. In fact, it did not come close. For there was not only one of these creatures; there were two. Two heavily muscled, eager murderers.

That was Syaoran greatest worry.

The two Dark Creatures lunged at him. Syaoran never had a chance to decide which way to go as his body automatically reacted. He was not fast enough and one of the creature's claws ripped at his arm, held over his head in defense, and ripped it open.

Syaoran gritted his teeth as his arm bled. For the first time today, he was thankful for the chain mail he worn, which, though it would not do much against the claws of the Creature, would protect some vital areas.

He twisted his body out of the way of another punch and stepped aside, putting one of the Dark Creatures in front of the other. He then put on an assault of kicks and jabs on his enemy. His battle cries tore from his throat in his attack, heightening the heady sensation serious fighting gave him. Syaoran roared as his arms flung back and forth, faster and faster.

His mind went blank as his body acted on its animal instincts, naturally tied into that well of magic in his being. Syaoran kept pounding, but it had no effect. The dark Creature was just as fast as he was and blocked his every move, cutting and tearing his arms with its nails as they came near. The second Creature finally figured its way around the first and came at Syaoran's throat, attempting to latch on.

Syaoran set his foot on one of the Dark Creature's chest and pushed himself backwards, flying through the air. He did not judge his distance correctly and smacked into the trunk of a tree.

His ribs hurt. His lungs burned. _'Use your magic, idiot_.' a loud voice inside his head commanded. _'No! I can't. I won't be able to do another spell!'_

The Creatures hesitated for a moment then rushed forward to him again. Syaoran flung his feet outnow that he had distance he could use his feet to blockand swung around.

His feet never made contact with either creature; instead, his eyes glazed over and he dropped to the ground in mid-leap. A blast - heat rolled over his body, not harming him - pulsed, and exploded, propelling the Dark Creatures into the air, and over the treetops.

Syaoran never saw were they landed, for he fell to his knees, pausing only for a moment as his torso rocked backwards and forwards before it made the decision to crash forward onto the snow covered ground. Syaoran's mind was blank, a sheet of white paper, and he lay dazed, unknown of his actions and dead to the world.

He did not know how long he lay there, only that by the time he heard voices- Arutha's raspy one and Hiyoshi's panic filled one- his cheek had gone numb. They came rushing to his aid moments later and hoisted him up, both raining questions on him.

"I saw two Dark Elves on a branch in a tree! What in Havvan's-"

"That bright light! What did you do? What did-?"

"-most amusing! To see a Dark Creature in a-"

"-could sense you miles away! I told you not to-"

Syaoran's head was throbbing again. He rolled his eyes toward Arutha, who was grinning ear to ear, than to Hiyoshi, whose big eyes were flashing left and right. Throb, throb, throb.

They carried him a few meters and propped him up against a tree trunk like a marionette with its strings cut. Syaoran could see the horses- all three of them- tied to another tree. He closed his eyes. Throb, throb, throb.

When something warm was pressed up against his lips, Syaoran opened his eyes. Arutha was squatting in front of him, holding up a hollowed-out horn, which contained bittersweet ale in it. Syaoran could not control his actions, his mind in a mist of haze, and opened his mouth willingly, though his tongue drew back. He hated ale.

"Now, Sir Syaoran, you best drink this up," Arutha was saying, tilting the horn upwards, allowing the liquid to slosh into Syaoran's mouth, a bit of it dripping down his chin. "Than you must tell us how you defeated a Dark Elf! I am most interested! My, my, the guardian was telling the truth when he said he would get someone of astonishing power!"

Syaoran could only nod, his head throbbing more painfully with the motion. _'What happened? How was I able to use magic so quickly? Why am I so drained? What is blocking my power?_' His questions were only responded with silence.

He swallowed more of the ale, and than looked at Arutha. "What happened? After-"

"-After the horses separated?" Arutha finished for him. " My horse took off north, and one of the vermin went after me. I believe the other took off after Sir Hiyoshi. Last I saw of you was when you were hanging on to the side of your horse." He paused in thought before clearing his throat and continuing.

"Since I was on a horse, and the elf was on foot, I out ran him and circled around back to find Hiyoshi, who was having a bit more trouble than I. We were in the midst of running when there was this...feeling. I believe it was you. It was simply incredible! I suddenly knew where you were! Unfortunately, so did the Black Elves and they ran off into the woods.

"We were just about to follow them, when by a stroke of luck, your horse happened upon us. Sir Hiyoshi and I than tied them up right when a blinding light blacken the sky." Arutha stopped pouring the ale into Syaoran's mouth, so consumed in what he telling that he did not notice that Syaoran had stopped drinking and the ale was simply pouring down his chin, onto his clothes.

"We figured you were the only one who could release such a strong amount of power and ran towards it. We found you a few minutes later." Arutha took a deep breath, at last finished. "What did you do, Sir Syaoran? To defeat one Black Elf is a victory in itself, but you defeated two! How?"

Syaoran shook his head. "I don't know what happened, I-"

"You FOOL!" Hiyoshi's deep heightened as he jumped in front of Syaoran, jabbing his finger in Syaoran's face. "How could you use your magic! I told you- I _warned_ you- NOT to!"

Hiyoshi could not finish his sentence, and he held his head in his hands. "You weren't supposed to do that! You weren't supposed to do that!" Panic rose in his voice again.

Arutha glanced from the boy on the ground to the boy running his fingers through his spiked hair. The events of the past hour were beyond his understanding, yet Hiyoshi's reaction to Syaoran was most unusual. "What is wrong, Sir Hiyoshi?" he asked.

Hiyoshi did not seem to hear him, instead continued to say meaningless things. " Everyone can sense us, they know where we are! Syaoran, you fool! You stupid fool!" Hiyoshi's panic grew into anger and he took a step toward the boy on the ground. "How could you!" Hiyoshi raised his arm threatingly, preparing to strike Syaoran, "You're gonna get us killed!"

Before Hiyoshi could proceed, Arutha intervened. Though Hiyoshi towered over Arutha, the latter had much more strength and the upper hand of surprise. The prince stood his ground and placed his gloved hand on Hiyoshi's chest, restraining him from doing anything further.

Hiyoshi eyes blazed with fire for a moment, than died out, and Hiyoshi succumbed at last, letting his anger flee. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a stone, falling onto his bottom, his legs sprawled out.

Arutha stood in between Hiyoshi and Syaoran, glancing from one to the other. For the first time, he saw them, in a way he had regrettably overlooked, or refused to see. _'They are just boys.'_ Arutha thought. They looked so young, so gangly as in the way of adolescents. They were alone, confused, and scared.

The prince sighed, letting silence fill the lull of conversation.

He should have known. In his mind, he made these two boys to be men: strong and brave; heroes, capable of doing anything and correcting his world. Now, he saw them for what they were; two boys lost in a world and scared. They had enormous power, yet no idea what to do. Seeing them in such new light, he pitied them and felt their burden.

_'Why did the guardian send these two?_' he asked. _'Why them?'_ There was no answer.

Now that Hiyoshi had calmed down, and Syaoran seemed more alive, Arutha sat.

"I think its time to get some matters straightened out before we continue our little quest, eh?" He said, trying to keep his voice light. Hiyoshi and Syaoran did not respond, but nodded their heads after a minute.

"Good. Now then, first order of business, let's figure out this problem with Sir Syaoran's power." He turned to Syaoran. "Tell us again what happened, more clearly, this time."

Syaoran closed his eyes, replaying the images of the battle in his mind. "-And than all my magic exploded. The next thing I remember is hearing you call my name." he summed up.

Arutha stroked his chin for a moment, than turned to Hiyoshi. "Sir Hiyoshi, what were you speaking of when you spoke of a 'turning point'? I believe I heard those words coming out of your mouth before we got separated."

Hiyoshi eyes glazed over. "I saw two outcomes."

"What do you mean?"

"Two outcomes." Hiyoshi repeated. "Two different futures, each one just as likely as the other. That is part of being a seer." his eyes dropped to the ground, "Seeing the future is harder than anyone knows, because it is so unpredictable most of the time."

"What happens when it is not?"

"It depends on the situation. Most of the actions we do day-to-day roll into the next day, that is when something becomes routine, and it is somewhat easy to know what will happen in one hour or even next week. However-" Hiyoshi paused, collecting his words.

"What?" Syaoran asked, his curiosity sparked.

"There are times when there are only a few outcomes, and we call those 'turning points'. All people have turning points in their lives, though half the time they aren't aware. Like when a lady walks down the street. She comes to a sign that says go left or right. She chooses left. What she does not know is that if she had chosen right, a mugger waiting just a block away would have killed her. Her decision was an unknown turning point between life and death."

Syaoran did not like the sound of turning points. What was the turning point Hiyoshi mentioned earlier? He asked this.

"I don't know. Whenever there is a turning point, I can see only glimpses of a few of the outcomes. The rest of the time it is black. But once a turning point has been made, all the other outcomes are erased and I can only see what is coming along this road that you-" he glared at Syaoran, "-have chosen."

"What did I do?" Syaoran questioned, his head still throbbing.

"What I saw was two outcomes in that fight. You used your power in one, you did not in the other."

Syaoran opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the prince. "So that battle was a turning point. I am assuming there are different degrees of turning points, am I right?"

Hiyoshi nodded.

"So was this turning point very large? Will this have anything to do with destroying the portal?" Arutha looked at Hiyoshi, who stared at the ground. In a slow, almost pained motion, his head bobbed up and down. Arutha's face darkened. "What were the outcomes you saw again?"

"In one, Syaoran used his magic. In the other, he did not."

"What about after the battle? What would have happened to Syaoran if he did not use his magic?"

Hiyoshi shrugged. "I did not see that far, which means that a lot depended on this battle, for some reason. The greater the turning point, the more it depends on the actions to decide the future, and the less I can see."

All three were hushed into silence as snow began to fall once more.

"What will happen now?" Arutha asked, his voice far off and distant.

"They can sense us. They know we are here." Hiyoshi stated. "The amount of power Syaoran let go was too much to be ignored. We felt it, and we were at least a mile away before we found him. In a world were magical power is frowned upon, who knows how many people felt him."

Syaoran felt his mouth go dry, as though it was stuffed with cotton. He felt numb and cold and pain. Pain from all parts of his body. Throbbing from his mind, echoing to the back of his head and rebounding. Though Hiyoshi and the prince were only a few feet from him, they seemed leagues away. Their voices were soft, almost childlike.

"Who's 'they'?" Arutha asked.

"The enemy." Was Hiyoshi's solemn reply.

Darkness bit at the corners of Syaoran's vision. He could not hear sounds or feel the snow on his face or even begin to think of the mistake he had made. His face slumped down, and he fell into unconsciousness. _'Sakura...'_

* * *

Author's note: _Please_ review. They lift my spirts and encourage me to write. As for the next chapter, I believe it will be completed sometime next week. Thank you. 


	10. Ch10 Sakura's One

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters, but any new ones are from my own insane mind. 

Author Note: Before we begin the tenth chapter, I would like to take a moment and thank my wonderful reviewers. Why? Because I probably would not have written ten full chapters of my story if no one saw it. So, to those who beautiful creatures who review, I tip my hat to you. But Imust bring special attension to the **only **person who reviewed my last chapter and my first reviewer, a person who gives me wonderful advice and way more compliments than I desever, Animus86.

* * *

_'It is Simple Human. The one you call Syaoran.'_

Syaoran.

It was Syaoran.

He was her One.

Sakura fell backwards onto the bed, her head feeling very light. She glanced over the window and got up and walked to it, sitting down on the window seal. Her eyes scanned the land below her, but as much as she wanted to, she could not see any small details.

It was nighttime. Dark clouds and rain replaced the sun. The only thing that was truly visible were the nearby mountains. Everything else was hidden.

Somewhere hidden in the darkness was Syaoran. Her One.

Sakura touched the glass of the window, her fingertips tracing patterns on it. The glass was cold, but it was as though Sakura's fingers were numb, for all she felt was the small dumps and scratches the glass had. She was never cold now, at least, not in the literal sense.

Sakura drew in a quick breath when she felt the aura inside of her. It had changed ever since she learned whom the aura belonged to.

_'No,'_ she thought, _'that's not it. Didn't I tell Tomoyo the aura is mine?'_

She shook her head, as though that would help sort out her emotions.

It was Syaoran's aura. His green aura inside of her. He belonged to her and only her.

After the shock of finding out who the aura truly was, Sakura felt a flush of embarrassment. All this time it was Syaoran who was inside of her, exposed to her thoughts, her feelings, her secrets. When she was cold in school, she called to him for warmth. When she was bored, or just too stubborn to sleep at night, she played with him.

He was not only in her body, but also in her mind. Sakura covered her eyes with her hand. Her mind. He was inside in her mind, and right when she was somewhat obsessed with him. Though he was her One, there were some things she did not want him to find out, much less have her thoughts displayed to him in such a open manner.

A faint, tingling sensation wormed its way up her spine, causing Sakura to pause in her thoughts. _'What is he doing?'_ she thought.

That was the major difference since she found out who the aura was. The aura, or Syaoran, gave off much more than warmth now. It was as though a door had opened the moment she knew for sure who the aura was. Her knowledge was the key to the lock. And now she felt a Syaoran's presence in her much more. The tingling sensations, she realized, were his emotions, or at least, a part of his emotions.

Sakura felt herself flush again_. 'Should I be allowed to feel him like this?'_ she wondered. _'He won't be able to hide anything from me, that is, before we figure something out.'_ She paused._ 'That is, if we want to figure something out.'_ she added.So far every emotion Syaoran had over the past few days passed through to her. The emotions were not sent in words or sentences; they were a language all of their own. Rarely could she accurately describe them, most of the time they were like hieroglyphics, put aside to study later.

Taking her hand away from the window, Sakura walked back to the bed and sat down again. The tingling at the base of her neck did not stop, making Sakura reach up and touch her hand to her neck, if only to prove to herself that she was not imagining things. Her senses were acute to every sound in the room; her breathing, the ruffles of the sheets; her heartbeat.

It was nighttime when she truly wondered what on Earth he was thinking. Though she could feel whatever he sent, she could not yet put a name to them. There were times when she knew for sure he was sad or confused, and other times wondered if he was angry, or happy, or sad. And even though she could feel these things, she could not guess the thoughts behind them. _'At least, not yet,'_ Sakura thought, slightly annoyed at the tingling. All the emotions touched her in varying degrees; sometimes it was soft and playful, other times it was cold and angry.

It seemed that Syaoran was most prone to feel the strongest emotion at night, and that would keep Sakura stay awake. That was another thing she learned after she unlocked the aura; Syaoran's emotions and warmth had formed the habit of keeping her awake at night when she had nothing else to distract her from the constant pulses of warmth.

At that moment, the tingling stopped and Sakura let out her breath, hoping that now she would be able to sleep.

Sakura sat up, feeling her forehead with the back of her hand. It was hot. She let out another long breath and fell back onto the pillows. _'I have got to figure out what he means!'_ she thought, _'What is Syaoran thinking that makes him feel like that?'_ The strongest emotion she felt from him was so different from all his other ones. Normally, that emotion was light and jolly, yet other times, it turned to something deeper and darker, and even-

_'Not so innocent?'_ Sakura answered herself. _'Maybe it is not what is he thinking about, but who...'_ a voice inside her mind challenged. Sakura shook her head, as thought the motion would scatter her thoughts. _'I need to get to sleep. I'll figure it out tomorrow._' she thought with determination. _'Tomorrow.'  
_

* * *

The next day Sakura woke to find her breakfast in front of her, lying on the floor on a gray tray. There was an assortment of fruits, along with toast, and some orange food she had never seen before. _'That probably came from the planet below me,_' Sakura thought, wrinkling her nose at the glob. 

Interested, she crawled out of the bed and onto the floor, and stared the food down. She was always careful about the food, for Messenger had, on occasion, brought in food that was still alive. It took ten minutes to explain to the guardian that she generally liked her food dead. (Messenger's response was,_ 'Humans are most odd in their primitive ways.'_ Sakura had wanted to ask what did it meant by _'primitive ways'_, but refrained from it, figuring all she would get was a headache.)

The orange gulp did not move, luckily, but gave off quite a repulsive stink when Sakura poked it with a chopstick. _'Maybe it is still alive,'_ she thought, and reached for an apple, snapping it quickly away just in case the orange gulp did decide move. She left the food on the floor and walked over to the window seal, taking a chop out of her apple. The sun was rising, breaking over the clouds and creating a dazzling display of blues and reds and yellows across the sky.

_'Every day the sun rises, without fail, even if we don't see it.'_ Sakura thought. _'The sun is so predictable, I guess, all over the place. It always rises, always shines, and always is there. It never does anything different either. It just stays on the same path.' _She took another bite out of the apple, sucking on the sweet juice of the fruit for a moment. Though the image in front of her was cheerful, she could not bring herself to share in its joy.

_'Is that what I am?'_ she wondered,_ 'Am I like the sun? Predictable and never changing?'_

_'Kero said that there is such a thing as fate, and even Messenger agrees. It seems mean, such a thing as fate. That there is a set future for all of us, and we can do nothing about it. I mean, does that mean that nothing I do can really change the outcome in the end?' _She felt her skin tingle with magic. _'Does that mean that I have no choice in my life? That everything, who I am, the things I like, the people I love, has been all determined?'_

The sun's rays touched the mountains on the far side of the valley, showing off their snowy caps and jagged slides.

_'No,'_ Sakura thought, filling her chest with air. _'I've helped people. Lots of people. They might of even died if I did not help them.'_

_'But, what if that was all predetermined also?'_ a voice inside her head challenged.

_'That can't be. People can decide which way their lives go. We are not held down or bond by anything. Isn't that what fate is, where you can't make up your own mind and you have to do a certain set of things?'_

_'Not necessarily. There are people who have no choice in their lives. People that were born poor and given no opportunities, set to live, and die, poor. That is fate also. If that is true, then people really have no choice at all, and everything that happens to them is not truly their choice, but serves some greater purpose.'_

Sakura's eyes widened. _'Does that mean I have no choice in who I love or where I end up? That is only serves a greater purpose, whatever that may be?'_

Her stomach seemed to sink and churn with uncertainty. _'That is not a way to live. I want to choose. I want to be in control of my life.'_

Sakura felt anger. Anger that sank in her stomach, gathering up all bad thoughts, to a point where Sakura could literally felt the weight. She wanted to push it out, expel it away from her. Yet for the moment, all she could do what watch the sunrise, and think.

Two things strange happened that day. One, Messenger did not visit. The second was a surge of magical energy from the world below her. Sakura's senses were momentarily stunned from the sudden and powerful explosion that it took her a moment to recognize that she knew who was making such a magical wave.

"Syaoran, what have you done?" she wondered aloud.

* * *

_'Good Morning.'_ a soft voice echoed in Sakura's head the next morning. 

Sakura opened her eyes to Messenger's blue centaur form, holding out a tray of food. "You're back!" she exclaimed and jumped out of bed.

Messenger did nothing, as always, but Sakura had grown used to it. She took the tray from Messenger and sat on the window seal.

"Where were you yesterday?" she asked. "You normally come every day, yet yesterday you did not even show up once! Did you get hurt?"

Messenger inwardly was mildly surprised that the human would ask such an idiotic thing. It? Get hurt? If it could understand humor, it was sure it would have laughed. Sadly, Messenger did not, and could show no sign of its amusement (if that is what humans still called it, amusement.) It looked on with the eyes of an outsider. It could clearly see when something was funny, for normally the humans would emite a strange sound and their mouths would lift at the corners, but it could simply not understand, the joke or the action.

_'Simple Human came to a turning point yesterday. My services were required_ _elsewhere.'_

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "Syaoran came to a turning point? What is that?"

_'He had two choices to make. Unfortunately, he choose a rather foolish one.'_

Sakura had no idea what the guardian was talking about. Her curiosity did ignite and she asked what choice Syaoran made. "Does it have anything to do with the magic he released yesterday?"

_'He did not merely release his magic, he unleashed it. Such power has never been felt before on this planet, and now every human, elf, and Dark Creature know he is there.'_

Sakura put her hand to her mouth. "Is he alright? What about Hiyoshi-san? And what will happen?"

_'Simple Human's skull may be dense, but so is his body. He shall survive, the Seer as well. What they do next, is in their hands.' _Messenger's soft voice turned cold, it almost spat out the word _'hand'._

Sakura glanced over the valley. It seemed so peaceful now.

"Messenger, what is fate?" she suddenly asked.

Messenger's answer was instant._ 'Fate: definition out of the Webster's New College Dictionary: the principle or determining cause or will by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as the do; Destiny. An inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end-'_

"Stop!" Sakura put up her hand, the other to her temple, feeling a headache. She wanted to slap herself for asking such a question. "That's not what I meant."

Messenger gray eyes stared at her to continue.

Sakura swallowed, picking her words carefully. "I mean does fate really exist?" Messenger did not respond.

_'Yes.'_ it said after a moment of silence.

Sakura felt herself deflate. "Does that mean everything everyone does is not really their choice, but predetermined?"

_'No.'_

Two things Sakura felt when Messenger answered her question. One, was relief, the other was confusion.

"How can you say both yes and no?" she inquired.

_'Fate is more complicated than what stupid humans think it is, and it hardly ever exists in their lives.'_ Messenger said. _'Futures seers, like the Seer who is with Simple Human, do exist, therefore fate must also exist.'_

Sakura bit her lip. "What does fate determine?"

Messenger's cold, gray eyes seemed to pin Sakura to her position. She wondered for a brief second why the guardian was staring at her in such a manner, but pushed it away._'Fate determine outcomes only for those who are important.'_

"What do you mean?"

Messenger was getting impatient explaining things to the child, which she would most likely never understand anyways. It wanted silence, not the jabbering of speech. However, at the moment, it had to stay with her, and feed her small bits of information, like a bird to its young, though it knew that she would eventually wise up, with or without it's assistance.

Her green eyes betrayed her naviie image she had gotten so used to wearing. It knew she was beginning to wonder why she and Simple Human were here. Her mind, though clouded and shielded from the truth, would work constantly in her sub-conscious until it came to the inevitable conclusion. How long it would take was only a matter of time, now that Messenger had strategically began to leave her by herself for longer and longer periods of time.

All these thoughts passed in Messenger's mind as it answered her question.

_'Fate does not bother entering the lives of those it deems unimportant. Only those with the power to change the outcome of something requires Fate's time and energy.'_

"You make it sound like Fate is a person."

_'No, it is not. It is merely another part of all universes that keeps everything running smoothly and in order, like I am.'_

Sakura drew in her breath before she continued, realizing something. "Does that mean that my life will be determined by fate, or do I have some choice?"

Messenger noticed a spark of something in the girl's eyes, which made its senses heighten. It wondered what caused this spark.

_'You are important, therefore some of your life will be predetermined.'_

"Oh." Sakura's chest fell, disappointed. Her mouth opened once more to ask something, but hesitated. After a moment of debate, she asked it. "Does that mean who I love was not my choice, but Fate's?"

Messenger noticed the spark in her eyes once more.

_'No.'_ Messenger's soft voice echoed, _'That choice was yours.'_

Sakura eyes widened. A smile appeared on her face, and she was distracted for everything in the room.

Messenger stood watching her, wanted desperately to enter her mind and explore the reasons behind the spark in her eyes. Yet, as Sakura turned her attention to it once more, it knew that if it dared tried to enter her mind, she would notice it and most likely kill it.

Feeling the conversation was over, and wanting silence, Messenger stomped to the door.

"Wait!" Sakura called, halting the guardian in its steps. "I don't understand one thing. If I got to make the decision of whom I love, what is this 'One' business? Two people meant only for each other? Kero said I was a One."

_'The creature Kero was created by a human, therefore could only give a human's answer. Two people destined for each other does not exist nor will it ever exist. Fate does not bother with such absurd dealings. __The real truth of Ones is somewhat simple, one that humans could understand if they wanted to, however they would rather be lazy and ignorant.'_

Sakura ignored the harsh insults Messenger made. "Than why did you say Syaoran was my One?"

_'You and Simple Human both made the decision, consciously or sub-consciously, that you would choose each other over all others. Both of you than blocked out all other auras that could have been a match will you, and only allowed the other's to enter. That is why you only have Simple Human's aura in you, and he only has your aura inside of him.'_

Sakura nodded her head, yet Messenger could tell she was beginning to question.

Before the child could ask anything else, Messenger hastily left the room, shutting the door behind it.

* * *

Messenger floated down the hall. It was in its non-physical form, which was a near heavenly experience after being trapped in the stiff body of a centaur. Messenger truly did hate the centaur body it had to dawn every time it visited humans. The human body was even worse, in its opinion, yet such things were merely obstacles, which it had to overcome to achieve its mission. 

Another presence interrupted Messenger's beloved silence. It knew, without confirming, exactly who this presence was and what it wanted.

_'The human child is beginning to question our motives.'_ Messenger reported, _'She has yet to consciously ask about us, however, it shall only be a matter of time.'_

_'If the child realizes what we are trying to accomplish, it is likely she will become dangerous, perhaps deadly. Her emotions are too attached and her youth is blinding her. She must remain as oblivious as possible until we have completed testing Simple Human. If he survives, he will be returned to her.'_

Messenger felt a sense of satisfaction from the presence, which soon removed itself, allowing sweet silence to consume Messenger once more.

It liked silence.

* * *

Author's note: I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. Sakura's inner conflicts with herself is something I tried to bring into a bit more light than Fanfiction (ever) tends to show, so I hope I did ok. Next chapter is frinkin long, so it is taking up a majority of my free time. With luck, it will be up soon. 


	11. Ch11 Meet the Rat

Disclaimer: Come on people. If I did own this, why the heck would I be writing here? 

Author's note: Thank you to my wonderful reviews. So sorry this chapter took a bit long to post, but it needed several rewrites. Hope I did alright. Please review.

* * *

Syaoran's head throbbed, again, but he did not dare open his mouth. For to complain now, after what he had done, would be a humiliation Syaoran was not sure he could stand. Instead, he gritted his teeth harder and pushed his heels into the horse's belly. 

The travelers were still about half a day away from the harbor city of Durin. Nothing much had changed over the past days as they had been crossing the plains and hills to reach the Free Territories, other than a mysterious quietness had settled over every living creature, giving off a strange and uncomfortable feeling of foreboding.

At the very least, the weather had been kind to them, or "the fair Lady in the heavens", as Arutha said, referring to Mother Nature. Besides a freezing wind that made the travelers hunch up their shoulders and tuck their chins into their coat collars for warmth, the sun was shining and the snow had stopped falling, at least, for now.

Yet Syaoran was absolutely miserable.

After Hiyoshi and Syaoran had nearly come to throwing fists, they made camp for the night. Syaoran did not remember much, thankfully, for he had passed out and did not wake until morning.

However, it was not meant to last. For when he finally woke up, Hiyoshi's manner and curt replies to everything he said reminded him painfully of the huge mistake he had made with his magic. Arutha tried his best to act as a judge and peacemaker between the two of them, but he apparently had his own thoughts to worry about, for after an hour or so he had obviously given up and gone silent.

"Sir Syaoran," Arutha's raspy voice called, breaking Syaoran from his thoughts, "We might be able to reach Durin by sundown, if the weather stays like this." Syaoran nodded as Arutha turned his attention back to the trail they were taking.

_'Even Arutha-san is acting different,'_ Syaoran noted, feeling a pain in his chest as though a small needle poked it.

"Sir Hiyoshi," Arutha continued, glancing to the tall boy from the corner of his eye, "How far can you see into the future?"

Hiyoshi shut his green eyes, Syaoran feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the seer gathered his magic. After a moment, the feeling was gone.

"I can't really tell the time, but it'll be dark." Hiyoshi answered.

The prince's head bobbed up and down once, his curls bouncing with the movement of his head. "We only have about five more hours of daylight. What else did you see?"

"There were two guards standing in front of a door built into a tall wall."

For a moment, Syaoran saw Arutha's eyes light up in happiness, yet it disappeared just as quickly. Arutha did not say what was on his mind, instead saying, "That's Durin, alright. The wall surrounds the city. Pretty damn useless, though..." He left his sentence dangling; leaving Syaoran and Hiyoshi clueless to whatever danger awaited them.

Hiyoshi shot another glare at Syaoran, who did his best to ignore him, though his muscles did tense up.

It had been going on like this for the past few days. It got to a point where neither Hiyoshi nor Syaoran talked to anyone but Arutha. Large egos and incredibly pitiful communication skills did not help bridge the large gaps that were slowly forming between the three of them. Syaoran did wonder for a brief second whether this would place some strain on the mission, but brutally pushed the thought away as quickly as it had come.

_'I want to go home,'_ Syaoran thought, _'I don't want to be here. I want Sakura.'_

His chest tightened, making breathing suddenly difficult. The awful feeling of homesickness gripped his whole body, biting and nipping at his mind like wild dogs. He hated it.

Syaoran tried distracting himself with any other emotion. He found it. If there was any emotion that could override the homesickness easily, beating it down into a pulp -it was pure, absolute anger. For a moment, Syaoran was bewildered as to why this anger was there, before his mind brought up the memory of his ugly battle with the Elves, and the release of his magic, playing it tauntingly over and over in his mind. _'It's not my fault.'_ Syaoran thought bitterly, his head still throbbing. _'I don't know why I can't control my powers all of the sudden. It is not my fault!'_

Hiyoshi's horse suddenly cut in front of Syaoran's, blocking his momentarily. Syaoran's fingers curled into a fist as they held onto the reins. Oh, how he wanted to hit Hiyoshi. The reason was not quite obvious in his mind but he did not dwell on it, only letting his anger direct his thoughts. _'I never heard what he said, and he thinks I am to blame for what happened? Me!'_ he turned the horse to the side of the trail and kicked his heels into the horse, speeding up to until he came side to side with Hiyoshi's horse. _'I can't control my magic. It was not my fault.'_

"Bohdan."

"Li."

Syaoran refused to let his eyes wonder, fixing them on the back of Arutha's cloak. "What family are you from, Bohdan?" Syaoran asked, his voice dripping in venom.

If Hiyoshi wondered why Syaoran was suddenly talking, his face remain neutral, not showing any feelings he had towards the boy riding next to him. "Bohdan is Russian."

"Oh," Syaoran paused, "-You're from _that_ family." The words had rolled off his tongue before he could stop them, and as soon as his lips closed, he immediately regretted them. Though shame made him want to vomit, Syaoran knew exactly why he said those words in such a rude manner. Why? It was exactly like hitting Hiyoshi, the same sting, the same awful, guilty pleasure his anger hungry craved.

Syaoran had been humiliated with his lose of control of his magic. He knew Hiyoshi knew that he was from one of the most powerful family of magicians in the world. To lose control of something he trained so hard to gain, it was frightening -and Hiyoshi had seen Syaoran in this state, scared and helpless. Therefore, in some sense of twisted logic, Syaoran wanted Hiyoshi to know what it felt like, feeling defeated, exactly like getting punched. So he burnt the seer in the only way he could at the moment, by ridiculing his family.

Syaoran could feel Hiyoshi's eyes on him, wanting to strangle him. Hiyoshi snapped his head away, and Syaoran kicked his horse to distance himself from the seer. _'First I lose control of my magic, now this.'_ Syaoran did not look back. He knew Hiyoshi's eyes were still on him, most likely envisioning daggers embedded in Syaoran's back. _'What is wrong with me? Why am I being like this?'_ His questions echoed loudly in his mind, only causing the throbbing to increase. Somewhere, deep within him, in a hidden pool of power, lay the answer. Syaoran wanted to reach it; he wanted to know what was happening to him. He needed the reassurance of his powers to function properly.

_'When did this start happening to me?'_ He wondered, looking up at the gray sky, _'I've been unable to do magic properly ever since- '_

He froze.

A slab of realization lobbed into his thoughts, stunning them for a moment, and then catapulting into a frenzied overdrive.

_'-Ever since Messenger took over my body!'_

The throbbing pain was forgotten.

_'It must be that damn guardian! But why would Messenger do such a thing? Why would it mess up my powers and then send me to a world it wants me to save? What game is it playing?'_

* * *

Somewhere highin the clouds, Messenger the guardian tracked the three companions with an interest deepening into what could only be described as fascination. It could feel the throb of interacting thoughts and feelings working within the heads of its charges; it prodded at the humming pain lodged in Syoaran's head, something the boy identified as a 'headache'. It surveyed first their physical environment - grass, air, flapping coats, lank hair lifting in passing breezes...Syoaran overtaking Hiyoshi after a bizarre exchange of ill-meaning feelings towards each other. He could feel them - sense them, really, because of the link it had established with them when it took over their bodies previously. As a result their thoughts and feelings were made plain to it, spread out as clear to the eye as objects spread out across an even surface. 

In addition, their thoughts and feelings were also linked with each other, meshing and overlapping, sometimes tearing apart in accordance to their moods and actions. The guardian saw this, too, just as clearly as their individual thoughts.

_'Simple Human has now begun questioning our motives.'_ It said to the clouds surrounding it. _'Such ignorant creatures...brilliant minds, but ignorant.'_ Messenger went off on tangent as it watched the humans. It knew with habitual confidence some of the events, which were bound to happen, the causes of which would not be the three humans. The matter was a difficult, tangled one. There were going to be things not only beyond the control of the trio of humans below, but acting independently of them - independently, as in, the continued survival of the Seer, the Simple Human and the Prince could not keep certain things from happening, such as war (just as their death would have no effect on this either). Guardian knew with just as much confidence that the thoughts and actions between the two events could change all the outcomes entirely, but these changes were all going to lead up to one, already ascertained occurrence it had foretold.

It watched its charges splash water on their faces in an attempt to clean themselves and thought,_ 'Humans are smelly.'_ It paused, remembering a word from some unimportant human it possessed for a short time before it found the Seer (she was a professor of some sort.): sarcasm, a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain. It knew what it said was funny, even sarcastic, yet it could not understand the connection humans made between the words and the humor.

After a moment of debate, the guardian decided turn off it thoughts and listen to beautiful silence.

* * *

"Well, now, sirs, this is the part that could get a bit tricky." 

This statement, made by Arutha to Syaoran and Hiyoshi, did not help ease the feeling that they were complete idiots way in over their heads. Durin, the city of thieves, criminals, and killers, or, as Prince Arutha put it, "quite lovely people if you know their language." (Syaoran thought this meant money), was sitting a few hundred feet away. Lights from torches at the top of the wall that surrounded the city could already be seen.

Nighttime had already arrived, quite sudden really, bringing with it unforgiving cold. Syaoran held his hands to his mouth, blowing on them to stop the numbness (it did not work). He looked gratefully at the road they were on, patting his large, warm horse reassuringly. The companions had found the dirt road two hours earlier, which turned out to be a blessing of some sort. First off, it was a direct route to the city, making it much smoother and less rugged for the horses (Syaoran was especially grateful for that -his butt and lower back were getting increasingly sore with each hill), secondly, if they had not found the road that night, they would have had to search for it the next day, meaning another night with the rocky ground as a bed.

"Sir Syaoran," Arutha was saying, "You may not be used to this type of instruction, my lord, but I must ask you to keep your hood up as we go pass the guards." Syaoran raised his eyebrows in confusion, though he knew the prince would not be able to see his expression anyway. "Why?" Syaoran asked him.

Arutha clicked his tongue. "To put it lightly, you are going to be well liked by the women and whores in the city. Such a face as...yours is the one thing we do not need at the present moment. It is too easy to remember, and also too hard to forget." Syaoran felt his cheeks grow warm in embarrassment at the underlying meaning of Arutha's words. He said nothing and pulled his hood up over his head, making sure the brim covered his eyes. Hiyoshi snickered behind them, causing Syaoran to once again fantasize about hitting the tall boy.

As they neared the wall, Arutha explained the inner workings of the city. "The wall is more for show than defense, really, as are the guards, most of whom are working for one crime lord or another. There is a solider watch base in the center of the city, but by now they have given up all hope of keeping order in Durin."

Syaoran scanned the wall, now rising steadily in their eyes as they neared. "Are there any other ways of getting in the city?" he asked.

"Of course! This is a center for smuggling, after all. There are about a thousand different ways of entering and exiting the city, most of which are illegal. For instance, in Durin's early building days, the men constructed a network of waterways and pipes, carrying sewage and water in and out of the city. As time grew, the city grew and it built homes and temples and market squares right on top of the pipes, which eventually broke and became useless. However, there are some pipes which are not broken - the water has been channeled through more modern pipes." Syaoran could guess where this was leading up to. "So," Arutha continued, "the pipes have become a regular city themselves, some large enough to keep hundreds of people in them. Mostly they are used for smuggling, or for disappearing when one needs to."

Syaoran did not like the phrase 'disappearing when one needs to'. He wanted to ask what Arutha meant by that, but than decided it was better not to know. "How do you know this?" he asked.

"I have been here a few times through out the years. Smuggling goods, mostly. I've been in only the four main pipes, however. Unless you are truly desperate, you do not venture into the other pipes."

"Why?" Hiyoshi's worried voice squeaked.

Arutha's shoulders shrugged. "The pipes are not a good place for anyone. No one knows for sure how many of them are actually working, and of the ones that lead out of the city, they have either been broken, not discovered, or most likely, blocked by the various crime lords."

Syaoran wanted to hear more about the city, but they had finally come within hearing distance of the guards, and with a quick look back to make sure Syaoran had his hood over his face, Arutha lead them to one of the gates. The gates were almost forty feet high, with the stonewall on either side of the doors reaching fifty or sixty feet. Guards with torches and lanterns march to and fro at the top, while other at the bottom stood still as travelers entered or left. Along with Syaoran, Hiyoshi, and Arutha, there were five other people walking to get inside the city. The guard's eyes moved from under their metal helmets, silently inspecting every person that came close. Once or twice they moved toward someone, looking them in the face, asking some questions, then moving on. Syaoran kept his eyes glued to the ground as they neared the entrance.

A large, burly man with bright blond hair and a thick beard waddled to them. His small, beady eyes glanced twice at Hiyoshi, who towered over everyone on his horse. He glanced at Syaoran momentarily but moved on to talk to Arutha.

"What be ye' business, sah's?" the man asked, eyes roaming over their horses and packs in the dark.

"We are tradesmen." Arutha said, his voice stern.

"Of what?" The guard asked. Arutha hauled out a smaller bundle that had been hanging from one side of the saddle; out of this he pulled a small wooden knick-knack, a hand-carved figurine of a horse.

"Wood carving." He replied, his voice unassuming and neutral. The man looked at them skeptically and Arutha repeated, "Nothing more than simple men with trades." The prince had apparently thought all of the answers before hand.

The man looked from Arutha to Syaoran and Hiyoshi, letting a roar of a laugh. "You be who you say, but these two whelps-" his large head nodded toward Syaoran and Hiyoshi, "-are hardly men." The button-sized eyes glimmered at them in a way that expressed disbelief at Arutha's words. The guard knew most people going through this city, if not all, used second identities - but he did not care for knowing the depth of Arutha's lies as long as it did not create problems on his watch.

"This one," the prince pointed toward Syaoran, "is my brother, while the other is my cousin."

If the man noticed the different in height between Hiyoshi and the prince, he could not say, for he was still roaring with laughter. He jerked his thumb toward the gate, saying a "Yer go on through, yer whelps." between fits.

Arutha lifted his hand to his temple and gave a small salute to the man, then rode through the gates; Syaoran and Hiyoshi close behind him. Once they entered, they stopped by one of the soldier stables and gave their horses to them for safe keeping while they were in the city. "Most people also sell their horses here if they come to stay," Arutha noted as he lead them through a twisted maze of streets and alleys.

From what Syaoran had heard Arutha describe of Durin, he expected to see masses of people, haggling and selling goods, fighting and drinking or whatever else one did. However, he was greatly disappointed. For one, there was hardly anyone out on the streets, doors were shut with an odd quickness as the trio neared, and voices were kept barely above a whisper. "What is going on here?" Syaoran asked the prince, who he could see in the dim light had his brow dipped in thought.

Arutha looked at him, and sighed. "It's you." he said simply, than put his finger to his lips for silence.

_'Me?'_ Syaoran thought, wondering why the prince said such a bizarre thing. _'Why does he think I caused this?'_

Arutha led them skillfully through the city, pausing every so often to look behind them. Cobblestones and half melted snow made their movements slow, the steady thump of boots walking in slush creating a dull, shortlived echo that followed them through the streets. A wind of unusual power breathed down Syaoran's neck, causing his skin to tingle with magic. He glanced from side to side, searching for the cause. Just as his head turned, the shadow of a 'wall' suddenly moved. Syaoran lowered his hand over his sword hilt, tapping his feet faster to catch up to the prince, who was five steps head of him.

"We are being followed." He murmured, quietly enough that his companions caught it but without letting the remark float beyond their ears.

Arutha nodded. "I think I know by who." He suddenly made a sharp right, into an alley. The alleyway was very small and skinny, only allowing two people to walk side by side. Tall buildings rose up on either side of the companions, causing Syaoran to grip the sword tighter. _'Narrow space, most likely hand-to-hand combat. Only one person. Light footsteps, means they must be small, probably thin as well.'_ Syaoran calculated, watching the prince for any signs._ 'Hiyoshi is worthless with the bow right now, too little experience. As for the prince, he is too preoccupied. Too emotional. So that means I'm the best defense.'_

Syaoran held his breath, listening intently. Hiyoshi and the prince moved in front of him, their footsteps were quick, and light. The magic continued to tingle the back of his neck, Syaoran's fingers twitching to scratch it. He closed his eyes.

At the beginning of the alley, another pair of feet slapped onto the stones. Syaoran slowed down his pace.

The person crept up closer...hard, uneven breathing...closer and closer.

A pair of ruff hands gripped Syaoran's shoulders, snapping his whole body out of the alley. Syaoran flashed open his eyes to see the tired face of Arutha.

"You need to open your eyes, Sir Syaoran," the prince whispered, grinning. Arutha lifted his forefinger to his blue lips, than opened his hand, all five fingers exposed.

The shuffle of feet was only ten feet away. Getting closer...

Arutha ticked one finger off.

The person's breath seemed loud, another finger went down...closer...

Syaoran saw a dim shadow from the alley grow larger and larger, until it was indistinguishable from the darkness surrounding it.

Arutha's last finger ticked off.

With a blast of speed, Syaoran shot out of the alley, throwing himself toward the person. His right shoulder collided with something solid -and bony- knocking the person to the ground. In the shock of finding this person suddenly on top of them, the person struggled half heartily, wheezing out, "Ay meant no harm! Ay meant no harm!" between breaths as Syaoran pressed his knee in-between the person's shoulder blades.

Syaoran held him there until the other two of his group rejoined him. Arutha sneered at the cowering pile Syaoran dug his knee between the shoulder blades of. "Why goodness gracious!" Arutha growled, rapping the man on the head. "If it isn't my dear, kind friend from the smugglin' days, Revelin the Rat!" The man whimpered loudly when he heard Arutha's voice. Arutha bent down and lifted the man's chin off the ground. "Last time I saw you, you were on the other side of the river, leaving me in the water, swimming for my life." The man whimpered more. Arutha groaned in annoyance. "Let him up," he said to Syaoran. "This good old chap'," he turned toward Revelin, "-will be helping us."

When Syaoran got off him, he could barely see the man's features in the dark. The man was very small, very skinny, with bags of clothes draping off his bony limbs. Though Syaoran could not see much, he heard Arutha pick the small man up and half lead, half drag the man out of the alley. Hiyoshi and Syaoran obediently followed, figuring it was best not to ask questions until later.

Arutha knew the city like the back of his hand. After ten minutes, they soon came to a large, run down building with a sign swinging over the door, 'The Ari Inn,'

"Still same old Durin," Arutha muttered. "The eagle is the symbol of the Free Territories," he explained. "On account of it can fly where ever it wants."

They entered the inn. Arutha told Syaoran and Hiyoshi to wait here, and gave a glare at Revelin, whose head bobbed wildly up and down. Now that they were in the inn and there was lots of candlelight, Syaoran could clearly see the man he had tackled. He now understood why Arutha called the man a rat. For that was exactly what he looked like.

Revelin had a skinny face with high cheekbones. His eyes bulged out of their sockets; his lips were nothing but a thin line across his face. His chin was nonexistent, his face rounded off a centimeter or so below his lower lip, than curved downward to a large Adam's apple. His facial hair also resembled that of a rat; whiskers and small, pathetic sideburns accompanied an almost baldhead, the remaining hairs were grasping on with a death grip. Revelin the Rat had large ears, making him look ridiculous. His body was so skinny, and he could have fit into his clothes fivefold.

Arutha came back shortly. "One room, three beds. Let's go." Rat started to shrink to the back of the line, but Arutha's hand whipped out and grabbed the cuff of the man's collar, tugging him up the uneven stairs. "What you doing in Durin, my good friend?" Arutha asked, his feet stomping the stairs harder with each word. Though Arutha's voice was light and merry, Syaoran could see the prince had a deep loathing for the man he was dragging up the stairs.

Rat whimpered. "Ay be not a friend of yours? To what reason must one have to see a friend?" His voice was soft and whiny, like a squeal of a piglet.

Arutha snorted. "Of course. How could I have forgotten?" They reached the door. Arutha glanced twice around the hallway, opened the door with a skeleton key, and shoved Rat in. Hiyoshi walked in next, without glancing at Syaoran.

To someone who had not felt the softness of a pillow for almost a week, the room was a heaven. Though the beds were small, creaked, and would not be normally compared to anything Syaoran was used to, there was a blanket on each of them, along with a pot beside each bed. Syaoran quickly claimed one, by the window. His mind was perplexed as to why a pot was next to his bed, but after a moment of thinking, his face cringed in disgust.

"Now why would a handsome, honorable fellow like you be doing back in this small place? I thought for sure you would be living a nice, clean life with a misses and five little ones." Arutha was saying, when Syaoran had finally settled.

Rat's big eyes widened more, and he tried grinning, but it did not work (his lips were chapped and the most he could try was a lopsided smile, which was not pleasant, on account of his crooked yellow stained teeth.)

"Ay...ah," he paused, obviously thinking hard, "Came back. City of second chances, ya know."

"Right." Arutha said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. He reached over for Rat's collar once more, and in one swift movement, lifted the tiny man into the air and crashed him into the wall. Rat let out an anguished cry as he head snapped back and hit the wall. "Remember that conversation we had about truth, Rat? Oh, fun times, they were. Such a honorable man as you are who surly never stoop so low as the dogs in this city and-" he gasped, mockingly, "-lie?"

Big, fat tears sprouted in Rat's eyes. "Alright! All right! Ay tell you!" he cried, "Just don't hurt me!"

The prince did not take his hands off Rat's collar, his blue eyes lost in thought. "Hiyoshi-san?" he suddenly said.

Syaoran once again felt the air tingle with magic as the seer closed his eyes and flew into the future. He glanced to Hiyoshi, who's whole body rocked gently.

"Wha's that?"

Syaoran looked up at the sound of Rat's voice. Rat's wide eyes were glancing around the room and settled on Hiyoshi. His hand reached up and scratched behind his big ears.

"Where didja find a magician, Arutha?" Rat asked in an awed voice as he watched Hiyoshi.

Syaoran bolted upright. _'How did he know-'_ he thought, than paused; remember the conversation the prince had with him the day he fixed his arm. Syaoran glanced at Arutha, who facial expression did not change at all. _'Of course,' _Syaoran thought,_ 'Arutha-san would not be worried. He already knew everyone has magic.'_

Something pricked Syaoran brain. He felt uncomfortable, seeing as how easily Rat was able to detect Hiyoshi's magic. On Earth, there were only a few thousand magicians, he being one of the best among them. On this planet, however, there were billions of people, and whatever other strange magical creature this world created, that had and could use magic. He had not thought of it much as he was in the prince's company, but now that he was in the city, that fact became quite obvious. Now that he opened his mind to such a frightening thought, he noticed the very air tingled with magic. Hiyoshi's small amount of magic dominated the surrounding ones; yet the magic of millions of people in the city meshed and mixed, causing the very air to always have some sort of lingering power.

_'Why is Hiyoshi's magic so powerful when compared to the others?'_ He wondered, but than answered his own question. _'Because no one else is using magic right now.'_ He remembered Arutha's words about how people would not choose to use their magic because they would like die with too much use._ 'The city is like a sleeping dragon. The people have so much power, yet they have pushed it all away. I wonder what could cause them to use their powers again.'_ He could already see the picture; the colors of hundreds of different auras, burning with power, rising up. _'This place is a power keg.'_ he realized.

Hiyoshi opened up his green eyes again. He nodded towards Arutha, smirking. "He'll tell us everything."

At this, Arutha turned to Rat. " He's just a jolly friend I found in a tavern, never you mind. Now, Rat, tell us how please how life has been treating you."

Rat, once again, was scared by Arutha, and shrank to the floor. "I tell you, Arutha. I said I tell you, and I will." Sitting himself on the edge of the bed, Arutha nodded for Rat to continue.

"News of you coming back reached the city only a few days ago. Apparently, your bag of money was not enough to keep Alf silent. I am not in the best of company right now. Hardly have a cent to meh name, but never you mind. "

"Who else knows I'm here?"

Rat scratched his ear.

"Come on, honorable Rat." Arutha made a movement to get off the bed, but Rat's answer was already spitting out before the prince could unbend his knees.

"There's a price on your head!" Rat whined, scratching his ear more. "I never meant to turn you in, I...I came to warn you!"

"Really? Now, who would want lil' old me?"

"Some of the lords in the pipes. They've been looking for you ever since you disappeared in the river. Knew you could not have drowned, or died from some cut, for you use your powers like some crazy magician!" His eyes flashed towards Hiyoshi, than back to Arutha. "I don't know why they want you, really, I don't! The most I was able to pick up was they found out something about your history before you came to Durin."

Arutha's face paled slightly. He kept his head, though, and Syaoran doubted Rat noticed anything. He asked Rat another question.

"Why are there guards at the gate?"

Rat looked perplexed at Arutha. "Has magic-usin' gone to your head? I figured you would be one of the first people to notice. Strange things have been happening that's got people into a good scare." Rat's eyes became unfocused as he recalled. "It all happened a few days ago. A huge...thing! Huge, amazin' and powerful! It was all pure magic energy, I swear on my life, pure magic that came from the south. It swept over the city, making people stop right in their tracks. Babies cried, mothers ran, men rallied.

"We don't know what it was. It could not have been any mortal. That magic could have wiped out the city. It's been causing panic. People don't go out at night now. The crime lords are putting guards by the gates to protect us. Mostly its bait. They figure, if whatever was powerful enough to make that magic came here, it would devour the guards first and the others could get out. Everyone's scared, Arutha. I am."

Arutha looked at Syaoran, who froze as he listened to Rat. At last Syaoran understood. He understood the uncomfortable stillness of nature, Arutha's reply, and why all the doors were shut so quickly when they passed. It was all because of him. The people of this city felt his magical energy being released the day he fought with the Elves. He caused the panic, he shook up everything upside down, and it was his entire fault.

He felt the little bit of food he ate earlier fighting its way out of his stomach. He felt so many things at once; embarrassment, anger, homesickness, and numbing, blinding exhaustion. He wanted quiet, wanted to shut out Rat's whiny voice, wanted to sleep. But he could not since Arutha asked another question and he felt he needed to hide is true physical state. "How are things going about with the war?" Arutha grilled Rat.

"Nothing now. Both sides are tryin' to find out what made all that magic. For the first time in months, there has been no fighting." Rat answered. "It won't last long, my friend. I know that. Dark Creatures are moving south. Durin is only supplying protection for cargo to the front line. But," he lowered his voice, as though someone could overhear them (which Syaoran now knew such a thing would not be impossible.) "People are whispering things."

"Like what?"

"A few more years. That's all this war has to live. Than the Dark Creatures will break from the mountain of Sumarr, they'll come and overrun our cities." Syaoran noticed how Rat already said the Dark Creatures would win. And when he looked into the small man's eyes, he saw that Rat believed every word with his soul. It sent a shiver down Syaoran's spine. He could not take anymore. Syaoran quickly stripped down to pants and a shirt, then climbed into the bed, not caring if they were not done talking, not caring if Rat or Hiyosih saw how truly worn of travel and upset he was. Arutha would be sure to relay everything in the morning. Until then, Syaoran realized, he just did not have the energy to care.

Luckily, it seemed neither did the others. Arutha and Rat continued to talk for a while afterwards, but Hiyoshi followed Syaoran's suit and climbed into bed (his legs did not fit, leaving his feet hanging off the bed post). Hiyoshi blew the candle out, plunging the room into darkness and silence.

Syaoran did not go to sleep immediately go to sleep though, instead spending the time thinking and wondering about Sakura, praying she was okay._ 'I come and get you, Sakura.'_ he thought,_ 'I swear it. Please wait for me. I love you.'_


	12. Ch12 Folding Clothes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters, however any new ones come from my own insane mind. 

Author's note: Thank you to my reviewers. Enjoy.

* * *

Sakura was restless. And angry. 

"Messenger! Let me out!" she bellowed, though she could not see the guardian. She knew it heard her regardless of their distance.

Fully aware of some presence in the room--most likely Messenger in its' nonphysical form-- Sakura began pacing around the room, showing her anger.

"You can not keep me locked in here forever without answers, Messenger!" Sakura continued, her voice rising. "There is hardly a difference between a prisoner and what you are doing to me. Show yourself!"

She felt a gush of wind at her neck and turned around to face Messenger in its centaur form.

_'Anger: emotional excitement induced by intense displeasure. Rage: suggests a loss of self-control from violence of emotion.'_

Sakura gritted her teeth, "I know what I am feeling right now, Messenger. You don't need to define it." Her pressed her fingertips into her temple, and let out a deep sigh, hopping that her emotion would flow out along with it. (It did not.)

She lifted her eyes for a moment to Messenger's face, knowing it would tell her nothing. She glided across the room to the door, which she had never been allowed to pass, closed it, than turned the lock.

_'You know very well that the barrier cannot contain me. I may leave whenever I feel it is convenient.'_ Messenger's soft voice echoed.

"Oh, hush up. You can't feel anything anyways." Sakura pressed her fingertips to her temples again and slumped down on the window seal.

It was most unusual to find Sakura in this state of her emotions. Her normally cheerful exterior had given way to a somewhat colder interior, given her circumstances. On days when she did not feel entirely pleased with the world, she would sulk and within a few hours be her old self. However, when one is held in one place for over a week, they drastically change. Sakura was no different.

It was everything that had driven her to her anger. She was alone, exhausted, and, in all basic terms, bored. The absence of real human contact had left no small mark on her either. Her days were filled with waiting endlessly for Messenger, which always proved to be a great disappointment. She was finally beginning to see the guardian from what it truly was, and that had only uncovered a tangled mess of mystery that she could only pick at in her hours alone.

Sakura hated the room now. It was not the safe suite she had arrived in; it was a cage to hold her like some animal. _'That is what I am to Messenger, is it not? A animal?' _She thought bitterly. The window seal was the one thing that she liked; it showed the outside world, the world with birds, and trees, and grass, and other people. The window had become a symbol for her intense longing to be out of the room.

Sakura glared at Messenger, determination boiling under her skin. "You," she said, trying to keep her voice level, "-are going to tell me once and for all what is truly going on."

Messenger cocked its head to the side, slightly interested in what the girl was saying._ 'What have you learned?'_

"I know that there is more going on here than you are telling!" Sakura said, feeling confident.

_'I can not tell a lie.'_ It replied.

"Yes! But you never said that you can not withhold parts of the truth!" Sakura retorted, fed up with being polite.

_'What do you wish to learn?'_ Messenger asked.

Sakura shut her mouth for a second. Messenger would never give her a direct answer to anything, and she knew she would have to find some way to beat it at its own game. This was part of the reason why their discussions lasted for so long.

Having hardly nothing else to do, Sakura had done a lot of something she had not been able to do on Earth; think. Truly deeply think. Uncover hidden wells of power and knowledge inside of her, face down her own demons. In all truth, she had discovered more about herself in these past few days than in the past year of her life.

Another thing she had uncovered was more of the mystery that was Messenger, the guardian.

" I want the truth. What is this plan you keep referring to? And what exactly do Syaoran, Hiyoshi, and I have in it?"

Messengers gray eyes grew in and out of focus as it thought, searching for the right words to answer. This was not a light question, and it knew the effects the real answer might have.

Sakura waited. Throughout all their discussions, Messenger's replies were never instant. It always took a moment or two before it answered anything, as though it was concentrating on more than one thing inside its head, and, knowing Messenger, Sakura would not doubt such a notion.

_'Truth is powerful, Human. Too much of it can destroy the plan.'_

"There it is again! The plan!" Sakura said, "What is the plan?"

Messenger stood another moment in silence. _'Do you know your role in the worlds, Human?'_

Sakura was taken back by surprise. It was just like Messenger to ask something that had seemingly nothing to do with what they were talking about moments before. Yet she knew that the guardian would take her in a complete circle around her thoughts and she let it guide her.

"Kero-chan said I was the most powerful magician on Earth." Sakura said, "More powerful than any magician before me."

_'Yes, but do you know why you, of all humans, were given such a role?'_

Sakura shook her head. That was a question she had asked many times herself, yet she never had an answer. Now, she realized, she might get one.

_'You are just one more human in a long line.'_ Messenger's soft voice said. _'Humans are general worthless, pathetic creatures. They thrive by the millions and die just as quickly. In the great span of the universes, they are nothing more than a speck. Yet-'_ It paused, and its gray eyes turned toward Sakura, freezing her to the chair she sat on, _' yet, they are one of the few creatures in the whole universe that can use reason and change their habits.'_

_'It is what you call irony: incongruity between the actual result or a sequence of events and the normal or expected result. Humans are selfish, yet given the one thing that can be truly called power; the ability to change a result in a chain of events.'_

"Than what am I?"

Messenger's eyes chilled her even more. It penetrated deep inside of her and for the first time, Sakura felt scared.

_'You are one of the few that have the ability to change, and therefore, you are important.'_

Its gray eyes did not change their cold exterior and froze her even more.

"Is that why you took me? Because I was important?"

_'Yes and No.'_

Sakura pressed her lips together, feeling angry again. "Can't you give me a straight answer?"

_'What do you mean?'_

She was tempted to roll her eyes but refrained from doing so. "I mean, can you answer my question using more words than yes and no. Tell me why you took me."

Sakura tilted her chin up and looked at Messenger straight in the eyes. "Well?" she said.

Messenger returned her stare fully, almost challenging._ 'You are important because you will destroy the demon that is currently inhabiting the planet below us.'_

Sakura wanted to shout. She wanted to scream and yell and kick and punch. She wanted to release her magic. The answer Messenger gave her was expected, and did not in the least answer the question she wanted to answer.

"I know that there is more to this than you are letting on! You have been leaving me alone for longer and longer. Why? What are you doing behind my back?"

_'Fate is amazing, yet sometimes it works to slow. Typical for such a power. For all its benefits, there are always an equal downside.'_

"What?" Once again, Sakura was confused. "Fate? What does that have to do with anything now?"

_'I will not repeat myself.' _Messenger said, its voice cruel. _'I shall take my leave of you now. Goodbye, Human.'_

Before Sakura could react, the guardian vanished without a sound. "Hey, hey! Get back here, Messenger!" She called, than held her breath, waiting for an answer. There was none.

Once again, Sakura was alone in her chambers. Only now, she had a headache. _'This is becoming too much,'_ she thought, rubbing her fingers into her temple once more. _'I have to get out of here.'_ To make matters worse, Syaoran's aura began emitting warmth once more._ 'Oh, not now, Syaoran. Stop thinking about whatever your thinking.'_

* * *

"How do you suppose Sakura-chan, Syaoran-kun, and Hiyoshi-san are doing?" Tomoyo asked Eriol as she folded up a pink T-shirt. 

"Don't really know. I guess they are having fun," he paused, "-then again, it is likely that they are not."

Tomoyo nodded, tossing the shirt on a growing pile of clean laundry. "Uhg. Where is that lazy sun beast? Isn't he supposed to be helping?"

Eriol shrugged, and grabbed another piece of clothing.

Tomoyo sighed looking at how much more they had to fold. While she loved making clothes and outfits for Sakura, folding and ironing other people's clothing on her day off was not what she had in mind. She paused, thinking about the past week.

After the scene in the theater, Eriol and her had high tailed it out of there, praying that everyone would assume they had been caught under some falling debris and had trouble getting out. Lucky, when they came out, covered in dust and coughing extra hard for effect, no one questioned them. After being checked up on by a nurse and doctor in the back of an open ambulance, they were excused. Eriol stubbornly stuck around, wanting to hear what the police had to say about the theater.

"But why?" Tomoyo complained, wanting to go home and figure out this mess. "Come on, lets' go before anyone sees us."

Eriol smirked, or at least, Tomoyo thought he smirked. It was hard to tell under the dust covering his face. "I would have thought this would be a wonderful addition to your collection of Sakura's adventures," he said.

"It's kinda hard to film her when she's not here!" Tomoyo snapped back. She was slightly aggravated by the latest turn of events. Besides the subjects of her mini movie gone, in the commotion her camera lens had been scratched and cracked. While it was fixable (with a reasonably large price), when her equipment was damaged, she generally disliked whoever broke it. At that moment, it was Eriol.

"If the police find any evidence of anything other than what they think went on, than I have to know about it," Eriol explained. "For instance, anything magical."

"You're a magician for goodness sake! Can't you just make everything the same it was?"

"At the current moment, no. Normally that's Sakura-chan's job, and I wouldn't dare think of taking her responsibilities. Plus I think it is better this way. This town could use something to gossip about."

"Basically, you're too lazy." Tomoyo said.

"You're words, Tomoyo-chan, not mine. Now hurry up, I can see to men up there." He pointed with his forefinger at to large men in dark blue uniforms.

The two men were shaking their heads side to side, talking. "I have no idea what happened," the first one, a young officer with black hair said. "From the eye witnesses, some say there was a sound, others say the roof just came right on top of them. Might'a been sabotage, or bad roof in general, sir."

"Well, check again with the eyewitnesses. Do we have their home addresses?" another man, an older cop with graying hair and a small beer belly, asked.

The young cop nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good. Next, get that team of construction workers to the roof and check out what the heck is going on up there. Tell them not to touch anything if they see somethin' up there. A fuse, a wick, nothin'."

"Yes sir."

"And get those damn reporters out of here! I don't need their yak now. Call up the architect, too."

"Yes sir. What do you suppose they're gonna do with the place now?"

The older cop sighed, lifting his cap off his baldhead to wipe away sweat. "Well, they could fill it up with water and have a nice swimming pool for all I know. Where's the head of the construction team?"

When Eriol heard that, he was at last satisfied and permitted Tomoyo to lead him out of the parking lot. Tomoyo's happiness at leaving the theater was short lived, for she eventually realized that they would have to explain what really happened to Touya, Kero, and Yukito/Yue. She cringed, already seeing their shocked, loud, and angry reactions. Especially Touya's.

It was inevitable, and as much as Tomoyo did not want to explain Sakura's sudden disappearance (along with Syaoran's, at which point Touya's mind would make false assumptions) she found herself at Sakura's door, staring into the fuzzy face of an angryKero.Than Tomoyo called Touya and Yukito to tell them the news, which was the least pleasant phone conversation of her short life. They rushed home (by speeding. Touya was driving and manage to make a normally two-hour trip one hour and seven minutes). Tomoyo's predictions about each of their reactions were surprising accurate, and was extremely grateful for Yukito, who was the kindest of them all.

During the explanation of what happened, Tomoyo made sure to leave out the part where Messenger said in their heads that Syaoran found his 'One' (which she knew meant Sakura. Somehow, she doubted Touya was ready to hear his sister already found the person she would spend the rest of her life with). Eriol was annoyingly vague when it came his turn to tell his part of the story, and refused to say more until later. Touya was ready to explode. "You mean to tell me that my sister," he clenched his fists, "is with that-" indicating Syaoran, of course, "thick headed weakling GAKI!"

"And Hiyoshi-san," Eriol added, "which I believe you had the pleasure of meeting already. Right, Tomoyo?" He paused to look at Tomoyo, only to see her slap her forehead with her palm.

Touya fumed. "TWO GAKIS!"

After four cups of coffee (espresso), three teabags, eight spoonfuls of sugar, and one giant headache for everyone present in the room, the semi adults and teenagers and mystical beast came to settling down and talking. They collectively decided to leave Sakura's father, Fujitaka, out of this mess. While he had discovered of Sakura's abnormal powers a few years earlier, he was considered very new to magic and was extremely uncomfortable with it (When asked why, it got into a heated argument, ending with, "I've already lost one person I love, damnit!").

"If he discovers what is happening to Sakura, he might worry himself to death. " Yukito said, "Fujitaka must be exposed to magic slowly." He paused. "Very slowly."

'If that's the case, he should not know about Sakura's One, either.' Tomoyo thought, 'He'll have a heart attake.'

As fate would have it, Fujitaka's job required fieldwork for two weeks. It seemed like a gift sent from heaven. Cleverly using a system of phones and impersonations, they managed to convince Fujitaka that Sakura could stay at Tomoyo's. Touya and Yukito had to go back to college for classes, yet they came home as soon as they could. Tomoyo and Eriol spent most of their time with Kero. They all came to realize it was pointless. Sakura, Syaoran, and Hiyoshi would only come back when they were finished with whatever they had to do. So, there was nothing for them to do other than wait, worry, and move on with day-to-day life.

Touya would simply not believe there was nothing to be done. His persistence was admirable, if not needed. He made Tomoyo and Eriol come over to Sakura's house, and they would end up doing housework for the Kinomoto's. Eriol and Tomoyo, being who they were, could not refuse. It did make them feel better, for it gave them something to do, and not worry about their friends. This is how Tomoyo and Eriol came to folding the Kinomoto's laundry and cleaning their home.

Tomoyo discovered Eriol to be pleasant company and began looking forward to the time they spent alone. Though Eriol had been in Japan for a little more than one year, Tomoyo had never really had the chance to see him alone, for hours at a time. Before, it had always been Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol doing something together.

Tomoyo glanced at Eriol, wondering what she was feeling. She enjoyed being with him, and was almost certain he enjoyed her as well. Beyond that, she was unsure.

She sighed. Unlike Sakura, Tomoyo never really knew what she was feeling. That was the problem with being a listener, a watcher. She had amazing skill with deciphering others and knowing what they wanted without speaking to them, such as with Syaoran. However, if someone asked what she was feeling, Tomoyo would smile and tell them what they wanted. But she never really knew herself.

It was in this regard that Tomoyo envied Sakura. Sakura was her exact opposite in some respects. While Sakura was blind when it came to decoding people and their actions, for example Syaoran's most obvious acts of affection toward her; she knew what she was feeling or not feeling. This is why it was so easy for her to turn down whoever asked her out. She somehow always knew, deep down and locked away inside of her, that she loved Syaoran. Another thing Sakura had was the confidence to act upon her emotions. Tomoyo was positive that when Sakura found out who her One was, Syaoran, her actions toward him would be much different than before. Gone would be the clumsy mess, in its place would be someone who knew how to use her smarts and act upon them. Tomoyo could even image Sakura publicly kissing the shy boy, that is how confident she knew her friend could be.

Tomoyo, on the other hand, found that while she was good at knowing others, it was a 180-degree turn to know herself. She found herself to be an annoying tangle of emotions and memories. She knew her own habits well enough, yet when it came to something like love, she avoided it like water avoided oil. When Tomoyo did finally figure out what she was feeling, it was normally too late and she had gotten over the feeling. So when it came to Eriol, Tomoyo did what she always did-she left it alone. Sooner or later, she knew she would be able to name the emotion, but until than, it was useless.

Tomoyo folded another T-shirt.

"I've been wondering," she said, keeping her eyes on the cloth between her fingers, "-how did you ever find that thing, the thing you said was not human?"

Eriol raised one eyebrow at her. "I thought I already answered-"

Tomoyo cut him off. "No, actually, you didn't." She smirked at him, "It's not like I'm going to tell anyone. As far as anyone else is concerned, it's old news. But I'm curious."

"How so?"

"Well, you were gone for one whole week. People gossip. I just want to know if they're right or wrong."

Eriol pushed his glasses up, the corners of his mouth turning upwards. "Hm, I'm sure." he said. "Fine, I'll tell you. After all, I like an audience."

Tomoyo stopped folding, sitting herself down on the sofa, and stared up at him to continue.

"I actually did not start looking for the thing until two days before I found it."

"What a minute," Tomoyo interrupted. "Where were you than? After school, Sakura, Li-kun, and I went to your old house."

"I was in the library ignoring you. It's quite easy really, though Syaoran eventually figured out that I was there, but I did not want to come out. That's why he urged you two ladies to move." Tomoyo nodded, not really surprised. "Anyways, after searching through all the scrolls for any mention of what we were looking for, I came to back to my first thought. That we weren't dealing with something that originated from Earth. After that, I took to the streets, searching for anything odd."

Tomoyo imagined Eriol dressed up in a dark cloak crawling around alleyways and on top of roofs. She smiled at the thought. "So how did you find it, then?"

Eriol sat down next to her; the clothes were forgotten. "I was a bit away from the city, in the country side a few miles out and saw someone walking strangely. At first, I thought this person was very drunk. Than I noticed he never blinked, and was having quite a difficult time with controlling the swing of his arms, the normal symptoms of someone being possessed."

"So I attacked him. We rolled around and fought for the next few hours." Eriol paused. "During the fight, we got to talking. It took a while before I figured out this thing was not the enemy, after all, the thing could not really control the tongue and lips of the person, so its words were very slurred. After that, I realized the urgency the creature had, and led it to the school. You know the rest." he finished.

Eriol's voice drifted off when he was describing the fight, his eyes unfocused. Tomoyo noted all this. She suspected that there was much more to the story than Eriol was telling. Itching to ask him what really happened, Tomoyo bit her lower lip to stop herself.

She could not help but question the authenticity of the tale Eriol told. The part that she found untrue was when Eriol said he attacked the thing. It did not seem right, from him to attack. Normally, she guessed he would have watched the thing for a day or so. Plus, she did not tell Eriol that while she, Sakura, and Syaoran did go to his house once together, she went several more times to check up on him. He most certainly was not inside the mansion as he claimed.

Figuring she would probe him later, she asked another question to distract him. "How did you know that the person was the creature? It sure looked like a man to me when I saw it."

Eriol looked at her, smiling. "It told me so. It told me that it was momentarily using the body of a man to move around on this Earth and find Sakura. It was a genius, really. I would have loved to have a cup of tea with it, but alas, it had a tight agenda." Again, there was something in Eriol's voice that made Tomoyo doubt him. There was something that was out of place, that did not match.

They moved back to folding clothes in silence. Kero had mysteriously disappeared, not that anyone minded the toy imposture was gone.

Suddenly, Eriol stopped. Tomoyo glanced up at him. "What?" she asked.

He drew in a quick breath, than let out a 'huh,'. "What is it?"

"I just realized something." he said, very matter-of-factly.

"What?" Tomoyo asked again.

"Syaoran has no idea about the Ones."

Silence.

"What!" Tomoyo explained. "What do you mean he has no idea?"

"Exactly what I said. He has no idea about the existence of Ones, period."

Tomoyo was dumbfounded. "What! How could he not know? You knew, Kero knew, how could he not know, considering he is a One!"

Upon hearing his name, Kero came tumbling down the stairs, and flew (more like crashed) into the kitchen. He's eyes were bloodshot, his thumbs twitching. Eriol, his expression still very happy, walked over to the sun-beast and picked him up gently.

"Kero-chan,"Eriol said, "How did you know about the Ones?"

Kero looked up. Since Sakura's disappearance, he had taken to his video games harder than ever before, playing hours on end. Today was no different. "I intercepted letters coming across the ocean." he responded, his voice very high.

Eriol nodded, placing Kero down. "I guessed as much." Kero promptly passed out on the counter, his thumbs still twitching.

"Great," Tomoyo said, "Can you tell me?"

"The letters Kero intercepted must have been the letters written by the Li clan to other well known magicians about my cute descendent. They have been debating about the myths and truths of Ones for quiet some time now. They were planning on informing Syaoran about his little One dilemma sometime in the next five years."

"Small world." noted Tomoyo. "How do you know all this?"

"Syaoran's mother keeps me well informed. One or two of the Elders don't like me much, so they try to keep me out of their discussions. After all, I am Clow, sort of."

They paused, both pondering the same thing; Syaoran's reaction to finding out that he was destined for only one person. They looked at each other, shrugging.

"Well," Eriol started, "It will be most interesting to see when he finds out, correct?"

"I'll bring my camera." Tomoyo stated.

* * *

Author's note: I had lots of fun writing Tomoyo and Eriol and hope I did all right with them. I know they are most likely very OOC, but I tried. Please review. 


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